Immeasurable Devotion: The Big Story - Tim Knipp (Deut. 4:5-6; Judges 21:25; 1 Sam. 8:7-8, 19-20; 2 Sam. 7:16; Hos. 4:13)

After forty years

we are on the move again,

making our way
to promised territory.

"Follow My ways
and set a standard
among the peoples
of the land
so that they may turn
and know Me too."

But we are a fickle folk -
so easily seduced
by other gods
and shiny trinkets.
We took our liberty
as license
and descended
into decadence.

Wanting to change our ways
but still enamored
of our neighbors,
we asked for a human king.
We pouted
and demanded,
saying, "Why should we
stand out
and be ridiculed?
Let us have a king
and the nations
will give us honor."

We got what we asked for
(and deserved)
in Saul,
a king, cowering
in a corner.
Yet when David ascended 
his throne,
he received a promise
that his family line
would produce 
the truest king
of all
and though there 
was much to admire
in David, 
still he stumbled
more than he stood.

Solomon changed
the downward trend
of feckless kings -
commoners thrived
and nations gathered
to hear the wisdom
emanating from
our sage king.
Yet such wisdom
is not without flaws 
and arrogant entitlement
tainted David's seed
for generation
after 
generation.

Eventually a civil war 
fractured us
as down through 
the years
we wavered -
now obeying
and seeking repentance,
now falling into sin
and degradation.

Messengers arrived
with dependable
regularity,
speaking in love letters
spelling out tough truth,
outlining our faithlessness
and spotlighting 
our injustices
as they writhed in 
dark corners.
He pleaded with us
to come back to Him,
to find again
His way.

But we plugged our ears
and were exiled
once again,,
scattered 
and shattered,
an example only
of incompetence and failure -
nothing anyone
would follow -
worthy only of scorn and derision.
We, who were to be the
rescue squad,
left dangling over a cliff -
helpless helpers,
in need of our own
rescue.
Pathetic.

Still we cried out
to the God we know
has a plan,
though we have tried 
our best to sabotage it,
and though we
cannot see a way,
yet we cling
to the promises
and hope in 
who He is:
a lover who has
pursued us
with unflagging,
unabashed 
and
undeserved,
immeasurable
devotion.