Only one righteous

I have read through all or part of the Old Testament a handful of times in my life. I inevitably find myself frustrated and discouraged, aggravated with the Israelites and their inability to stay on track for more than a generation at a time. The people as a whole stray to the right and left innumerable times, and even the most famous kings and leaders commit egregious errors.

There is no one righteous, no, not one.

Noah, Abraham, Moses, David... these giants of storytime all have black marks on their names. Even if their lives honored God overall, they each faltered and failed in humiliating ways.

But that is what makes the gospels incredible. When you arrive at the life of Jesus after reading page upon page of prophets lamenting the fallenness of Israel and foretelling the lamb without blemish who will take it all upon Himself.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6

They say the traits that irritate us most in other people are those we most hate in ourselves. Like Israel, I fall over and over again into the same sins, disbelieving God's all-sufficiency and seeking help elsewhere. I come back again and again to the same mercy, the same love, the same open arms. Thank you, precious Lord, for grace.