How God Disciplines Those He Loves!
12 Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
It seems like an oxymoron to say blessed is one who receives discipline. The context of this passage was God was disciplining the people of Israel for straying from his commands and worshipping other gods. God allows other nations to invade Israel, as a sign of his withdrawing his hand of protection. But it doesn't mean that God had cut himself off from His chosen ones forever. God uses this opportunity to teach the Israelites a lesson. He allows them to get what they want, which in this case wasn't Him.
Like any discipline, His intention is to teach them the consequences of their actions. However as the psalms teach the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. God's mercies are new every morning. God will never or leave or forsake them because of the covenant He made with Abraham. But along the way like any child or youth, they have to learn from the school of "hard knocks".
If this is how God treated the Israelites, does he not also do the same with us? Though our salvation is secure by what Jesus did on the cross, we still mature in faith by lessons God teaches us. We are saved by grace, and we also live by it. Meaning we are obedient because of our love for God, not to earn it. God allows us at times to have what we want, which may not be what He wants for us. But in doing so He teaches us the blessedness of listening to His voice and obeying it. As Hebrews 12:6 teaches us in the New Testament,
"God disciplines those who he loves. and punishes each one he accepts as his child."
the one you teach from your law;
13 you grant them relief from days of trouble,
till a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not reject his people;
he will never forsake his inheritance.
It seems like an oxymoron to say blessed is one who receives discipline. The context of this passage was God was disciplining the people of Israel for straying from his commands and worshipping other gods. God allows other nations to invade Israel, as a sign of his withdrawing his hand of protection. But it doesn't mean that God had cut himself off from His chosen ones forever. God uses this opportunity to teach the Israelites a lesson. He allows them to get what they want, which in this case wasn't Him.
Like any discipline, His intention is to teach them the consequences of their actions. However as the psalms teach the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. God's mercies are new every morning. God will never or leave or forsake them because of the covenant He made with Abraham. But along the way like any child or youth, they have to learn from the school of "hard knocks".
If this is how God treated the Israelites, does he not also do the same with us? Though our salvation is secure by what Jesus did on the cross, we still mature in faith by lessons God teaches us. We are saved by grace, and we also live by it. Meaning we are obedient because of our love for God, not to earn it. God allows us at times to have what we want, which may not be what He wants for us. But in doing so He teaches us the blessedness of listening to His voice and obeying it. As Hebrews 12:6 teaches us in the New Testament,
"God disciplines those who he loves. and punishes each one he accepts as his child."
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