God is jealous like a powerful merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not

the chores of a slave but the privileges of a wife and a queen.

His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness, but from a holy indignation

against the possible drifting away of the heart of his wife

that would bring dishonor upon the value of his name.

What is it like to have a God who is sovereignly committed to our undivided love and devotion for his glory and our joy.

That's the question John Piper answers from Exodus 34, 10 to 16 in this episode of Light and Truth.

This sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on October 28, 1984.

Here God has told Moses to cut his two tables of stone, afresh, the ones that he broke, and come back up on the mountain. I'm going to write those ten commandments for you again. But before he gives those ten commandments he

does something very very important that provides the foundation

of the covenant.

He identifies himself and his character in verses 6 and 7. The Lord, you remember the triangle I drew for you here two weeks ago,

the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, keeping steadfast love and faithfulness

for thousands and forgiving transgression and iniquity and sin.

Now this is tremendously important.

Before he gives any human conditions or terms he announces the foundation of this covenant in his character

and it is mercy, love, and forgiveness.

So the very first promise that we are to understand as part of the covenant made with the

people of Israel on the top of Mount Sinai is that God forgives repentant sinners.

So right at the foundation of this covenant is God's identification of himself as a merciful God,

abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

So the covenant made with Moses and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai

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