His pain

They put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel. – Judges 10:16

The Old Testament book of Judges is a somewhat depressing account of God’s people locked in a recurring cycle of rebellion, punishment, repentance, and deliverance. After every divine intervention, the process was repeated. It was always their pain that caused God’s people to call on Him: "The children of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray’ " (JUDGES 10:15).

Six times in JUDGES they cried out to God, and each time He came to their rescue. But the Lord Himself was also in pain. In a remarkable statement, the Bible says of Almighty God, "His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel" (v. 16).

The misery we suffer because of our spiritual rebellion will always cause pain to the Lord. As the prophet Isaiah wrote: "In all their affliction He was afflicted" (ISAIAH 63:9).

God’s suffering reached its zenith when His Son Jesus Christ went to the Cross to die for our sin. We will never fully understand what it meant for the intimacy of the Father and the Son to be broken (MATTHEW 27:46-50).

It’s good to ponder the pain of God even as we praise Him for the marvel of our salvation. – David C. Mccasland

Your love, O God, would spare no pain

To conquer death and win;

You sent Your only Son to die

To rescue us from sin. – Dennis J. De Haan

READ: JUDGES 10:6-16

Sin brings pain – to us, and to God.