Why God Never Gives Up on You!
Psalm 89
"If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
31 if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
and I will not lie to David—
36 that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”
The psalmist spends many verses describing the faithfulness and mightiness of God. He talks about the covenant God has made with his servant and king David, which he will bless through David's line forever. God chose David to be His anointed one, and God will be with him in all He does. Even though David will falter, God's steadfast love will last forever.
But then the tone of the psalm changes as we see above.Despite God's faithfulness to Israel, when they violate His covenant He will not spare the rod.He will discipline them. But next we see God's character, "But I will not take my love from them. I will not violate my covenant."
One cannot overemphasize how important these words are about God's character. You could summarize it by saying, "God is faithful when we are not!"
But we also see that God is not unwilling to discipline His people when they violate the covenant He has made with Israel. As Israel rebels more and more against God's covenant, God will allow them to be judged by other nations. We see this had happened when the psalm says,
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
So if this is how God dealt with His chosen Ones, what does this say about how He will deal with us? I think first of all we need to cling to the promise where he says, "I will never take my love from them." Though God may punish our sinful ways, he will never forsake His love for us. But God also loves us enough to discipline us when we violate His laws. We might say God allows the consequences of our actions to teach us a lesson. In the case of Israel, God had to teach them a very hard lesson and even seemingly abandon them. Yet, He never gives up on His people and He never gives up on us.
When we see how much God loves us and never gives up on us, doesn't make you want to serve Him more as a sign of your great love for him? We can love him because He first loved us.
"If his sons forsake my law
and do not follow my statutes,
31 if they violate my decrees
and fail to keep my commands,
32 I will punish their sin with the rod,
their iniquity with flogging;
33 but I will not take my love from him,
nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter what my lips have uttered.
35 Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—
and I will not lie to David—
36 that his line will continue forever
and his throne endure before me like the sun;
37 it will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky.”
The psalmist spends many verses describing the faithfulness and mightiness of God. He talks about the covenant God has made with his servant and king David, which he will bless through David's line forever. God chose David to be His anointed one, and God will be with him in all He does. Even though David will falter, God's steadfast love will last forever.
But then the tone of the psalm changes as we see above.Despite God's faithfulness to Israel, when they violate His covenant He will not spare the rod.He will discipline them. But next we see God's character, "But I will not take my love from them. I will not violate my covenant."
One cannot overemphasize how important these words are about God's character. You could summarize it by saying, "God is faithful when we are not!"
But we also see that God is not unwilling to discipline His people when they violate the covenant He has made with Israel. As Israel rebels more and more against God's covenant, God will allow them to be judged by other nations. We see this had happened when the psalm says,
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 Indeed, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and have not supported him in battle.
44 You have put an end to his splendor
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with a mantle of shame.
So if this is how God dealt with His chosen Ones, what does this say about how He will deal with us? I think first of all we need to cling to the promise where he says, "I will never take my love from them." Though God may punish our sinful ways, he will never forsake His love for us. But God also loves us enough to discipline us when we violate His laws. We might say God allows the consequences of our actions to teach us a lesson. In the case of Israel, God had to teach them a very hard lesson and even seemingly abandon them. Yet, He never gives up on His people and He never gives up on us.
When we see how much God loves us and never gives up on us, doesn't make you want to serve Him more as a sign of your great love for him? We can love him because He first loved us.
Comments
Post a Comment