「I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;

　With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.」　Amen.

　God chose the Israelites unilaterally and continued to pour out His grace on them. Since God made a covenant with them, there were, of course, rules of observance; if they kept the covenant, they would receive blessings; if they did not, they would be punished. However, no matter how much the people resorted to idolatry, the covenant was not broken. This is similar to the love of a parent who punishes his or her child because of love, but does not give up on the child.

　　May we be inclined to the love of the Lord today as well.

God bless you.   See you next week.