The Old Testament law was not primarily intended to give people a specific set of guidelines to follow. Instead, it was designed to be so burdensome that people would always need to rely on God's grace and mercy. The law was never meant to be followed perfectly, but rather to show people that they always need God's help. For example, David, who was himself a law-breaker, recognized that if God kept a record of everyone's sin, then no one could stand. David approached God based on His unfailing love, which is how God ruled over Israel through His patience and His treating them as dust.God was relating to Israel through the covenant. The covenant is not a secular description of a relationship. It is not Greek division of democratic powers. ( Instead of the creation gods we have the equal forces gods. Universalist democracy through common grace.) Rather God effectively ordered that Old Testament society by His law. The covenant was not just a set of guidelines or a moral code- it was a way for God to show His people how to live in a way that would be pleasing to Him and would result in His blessing.In describing His relationship with His covenant nation, God uses terms of endearment, like a marriage. Just as a marriage is an institution of life and not a secular one, God provided boundaries through His law that gave Israel a quality of life through justice, peaceful cohabitation, and protection of the righte of the poor. But instead of living within their means and having a healthy respect for others, they were always testing God by breaking His laws. This led to them not experiencing the full benefits of His covenant, and ultimately to their downfall.So God had to deal harshly with the rebellious. But the order of the society was always toward lessening the burdens of the law in order to allow people to enjoy their freedom, even though it was based on their weakness to obey the law fully. I will explain further how God is a just God through His law that was designed to protect people.God had to be strict with those who disobeyed His law in order to maintain order in society. However, He always tried to reduce the burdens of the law so that people could enjoy their freedom. Even though people were not always able to obey the law perfectly, God was still just and His law was designed to protect people.