“My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and My covenant will stand firm for him. I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. If his children forsake My law and do not walk according to My rules, if they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him My steadfast love or be false to My faithfulness. I will not violate My covenant or alter the Word that went forth from My lips.” Psalm 89:28-34
Devotional Thought For The Day
The psalmist continues asserting the nature of the eternal and inviolable covenant that God established with David and his offspring [with all human beings]. It is the same covenant described by Jeremiah [Jer. 31:31-34] and fulfilled in Jesus Christ, in His suffering, death, and resurrection as the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. It is purely gracious and promissory – the expression of God’s great love for us, His eternal commitment to our well-being and salvation. No matter what happens God will keep His steadfast love toward us. He will never be false to His faithfulness, will never violate His covenant or alter the Word that He has given to us. We have His promise: “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1 John 1:9] The door back to God, to live in His gracious love and to receive His salvation is always open to us – even when we have sinned grievously and have fallen unfaithful, as David frequently did in his life. This covenant reflects God as He is, and it is exactly as described: “Even if we are faithless, He remains faithful— for He cannot deny Himself.” [2 Tim. 2:13]
There is also warning in regard to those who “forsake My law and do not walk according to My rules, if they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments.” Those who sin will suffer consequences: “I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes.” It gets even worse for those who refuse to repent, who refuse to take refuge in God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness and to receive His salvation as His free gift to us in Christ Jesus: “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” [John 3:36] So while God will not shut the door on us, we can shut the door to eternal life to ourselves – by impenitence and unbelief [whether rejecting His law, His definition of right and wrong, and refusing to repent of our sin, or by rejecting His Word of Life, refusing His gracious mercy and free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus, and insisting on climbing to heaven through our own works and efforts rather than passively receiving mercy in Christ Jesus]. Jesus also warns of the dire consequences of those who teach others to violate God’s Word, whether in opposition to His law [the ways of love], yielding impenitence; or in opposition to His gracious mercy, contrary to faith, yielding unbelief [Matt. 5:17-20].
David suffered the consequences of his sin and his times of impenitence – and thankfully, he also experienced the forgiveness, mercy, and salvation of God when He was turned back to repentance and faith through the ministry of God’s Word. God is always faithful to His Word; He will not violate His covenant or alter His Word. It was the same for all of the children of God, the people of faith, whose lives are recorded in the pages of Holy Scripture. So also, God’s faithfulness to His Word remains inviolable – and His dear children of faith continue to experience the same blessed ministry of His love for us today – God’s discipline and punishment when we sin [to call us back to repentance], and His gracious promises of mercy, forgiveness, life and salvation in Christ Jesus, to restore, strengthen, and solidify our faith in His eternal steadfast love for us, certainty that it is His will that we too be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
The psalmist struggled in reconciling these assurances of God’s love for us, His good and gracious will toward us, with the circumstances he was experiencing. We often have the same struggles. The reconciliation is found in time and in the superior wisdom of God – His inscrutable ways in working the greatest blessedness for mankind. When our experiences seem to conflict with the promises of God, people of faith always side with God’s Word, and we continue to assert His unfailing love for us against all empirical evidence to the contrary. We know from the record of Holy Scripture that in time God always works all things for the good of His people, and that in the end a glorious reconciliation of all things is coming – in His wondrous heavenly kingdom. So we continue repenting of our sins, rejoicing in the Word of God which assures our forgiveness and salvation in Christ Jesus, enjoying fellowship with God through faith in His love, and looking forward to the fulfillment of all of His promises in the kingdom to come – regardless of our earthly circumstances. God grant such blessedness to us all!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus Christ, thanks and praise be to You for all that You accomplished for our full and complete salvation, in fulfillment of God’s promises, in Your suffering, death, and resurrection. Thank You for being the embodiment of God’s eternal steadfast love and faithfulness to us. Grant us continued faithfulness to Your Word, submission and obedience to Your law of love, repentance for all our failures, firm faith and trust in Your forgiveness and mercy, and continued commitment to growing in love. Grant us grace to hold to Your Word even as we pass through much tribulation. Amen.