“God’s If-Onlies”
Psa. 81:10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Psa. 81:11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81:10-16, English Standard Version)
“If only” are among the saddest words in the English language, really in any language. The Hebrew equivalent to “if only” (lû)occurs at the beginning of verse 13.
We tend to think that the if-onlies are only a human reality, and that it is especially found among older folks who regret choices they’ve made. But here, in this psalm, it is God who says, “If only.” God is regretting, not what God has done, but what God’s people have done—and what they have refused to do. Apparently, Israel wasn’t the most obedient bunch of people on the planet. In other words, they were exactly like everyone else on the planet. They disobeyed the God who had rescued them from slavery in Egypt. They would not submit to this God.
So, what did God do? It may have seemed as if he did nothing. But in fact God punished in the most devastating way possible: God gave his people over to the counsel of their own stubborn hearts (verse 12).
Some people will counsel others to “follow their own hearts.” There are times when that is appropriate. Unfortunately, it isn’t a slam dunk. It depends on which heart a person is following.
You see, we have several hearts. One of them is our stubborn heart. I have discovered that when I follow this heart, I’m already in serious trouble and headed for more.
Meanwhile, God was left with his if-onlies. He was left with his longings to subdue Israel’s enemies, and feed Israel with the finest food.
I believe that God longs to do good for all of us. It is a sadly unnecessary thing to leave God with only his “If onlies!”
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