You Are Our Father
7 I will tell of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has given to us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses. 8 For he said, “Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;” so he became their Savior. 9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old. 10 But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them. 11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?” 12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name? 13 Who led them through the depths, like a horse in the wilderness, so that they didn’t stumble? 14 As the livestock that go down into the valley, Yahweh’s Spirit caused them to rest. So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name. 15 Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me. 16 For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name. 17 O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance. 18 Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary. 19 We have become like those over whom you never ruled, like those who were not called by your name.
A prayer that reviews the whole history, and says God was afflicted in his people's affliction.
I will tell of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has given to us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
The longest prayer in the book begins, and it runs to the end of chapter sixty-four. It opens with recital rather than request.
For he said, “Surely, they are my people, children who will not deal falsely;” so he became their Savior.
The expectation is quoted and the history disproves it. He said it anyway.
In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and in his pity he redeemed them. He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
The first clause is among the most remarkable in the Old Testament. Their suffering is described as his — not observed, but shared, and the phrasing makes it simultaneous. The Hebrew is disputed and the English translations divide, but the reading given here is the ancient one and the book supports it: this is the God who says he has been burdened and wearied Isaiah 43:24 and who cries out like a woman in labor Isaiah 42:14.
But they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. Therefore he turned and became their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
Grieving the Spirit is a phrase Paul takes up Ephesians 4:30, and it presumes someone who can be hurt.
Then he remembered the days of old, Moses and his people, saying, “Where is he who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is he who put his Holy Spirit among them?”
The question is asked by the people, looking back at the exodus and unable to find the God who did it.
As the livestock that go down into the valley, Yahweh’s Spirit caused them to rest. So you led your people to make yourself a glorious name.
Animals coming down off a hillside into a sheltered valley at evening. It is the gentlest image in the chapter and it is used of the wilderness generation.
Look down from heaven, and see from the habitation of your holiness and of your glory. Where are your zeal and your mighty acts? The yearning of your heart and your compassion is restrained toward me.
The complaint is not that God is absent but that something in him is being held back.
For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from everlasting is your name.
Said twice, and the ground is unusual. Descent from Abraham is set aside as no help — the ancestors would not recognize this generation — and the appeal goes over their heads to a fatherhood that does not depend on the family tree.
O Yahweh, why do you make us wander from your ways, and harden our heart from your fear? Return for your servants’ sake, the tribes of your inheritance.
The hardening of chapter six, prayed about rather than explained, and the request that follows is simply return.
settled What this mark means