Psalm 78:60

In this psalm, Asaph is working his way through Israel's history, showing God's faithfulness and Israel's rejection of His goodness, over and over. They sin. God gets angry. But He remains faithful and rescues them because they belong to Him, and it is for the honor of His name [His Jesus] that He continues to love and save and give of Himself.

So getting toward the end of the psalm, we find another one of those summaries of how the children of Israel disbelieved, and Asaph says,
They provoked Him to anger with their high places,
and moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
When God heard this, He was furious,
and greatly abhorred Israel,

Ack! Scary!
God's mad!
What's He gonna do?

so that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent He had placed among men.
And delivered His strength into captivity,
and His glory into the enemy's hand.

Wait a minute? God gets ticked at Israel for their willful disobedience and their selfishness and their unbelief, and so He does what?

He forsakes His Son????

Okay, in history, when Asaph was praying this psalm, Jesus wasn't born yet. And it is true about the ark: 1 Samuel 4 tells the story of how God forsook the tabernalce in Shiloh, how He let the ark of the covenant be captured by the Philistines. The glory of Yahweh was delivered into captivity, into the temple of Dagon.

But we know Who is the real tabernacle (John 1), the tent that was placed among men. We know Who is "His strength". We know Who is "His glory."

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!
My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me,
and from the words of My groaning?



Like in the psalm, we provoke God to anger with our unbelief and our idolatry. We make Him furious. And in His hatred of this sin, He resolves it by delivering His Son into the hand of those who would kill Him. God's anger is vented on us by letting His glory [Jesus] be delivered over to the enemy.

That is SO not fair.

Thanks be to God!