Faithful Is The LORD

Scripture:

Psalm 78:56
Yet though He did all this for them,
they continued to test His patience.
They rebelled against the Most High
and refused to follow His decrees. (NLT)

Observation:

The psalmist here was talking about God’s faithfulness to His people Israel; having led them safely out of Egypt, the LORD provided and protected them throughout their wandering in the wilderness until He brought them into the Promised Land. Yet they turned their backs on Him in rebellion. Even though we have a gracious and loving God, sin has its devastating consequences. Like His people Israel, the LORD will turn away and allow our enemies to defeat us, and if we are wise, we will learn from our mistakes by understanding why God has allowed this to happen and then ask for His forgiveness and repent.

Application:

We live in a sinful world; in a sinful body and no matter how thankful we are for God’s grace and forgiveness, we will always fall short of God’s glorious standard. There are times in my life when I feel much like an Israelite; one moment…praising and thanking God for saving me from the sin that can so easily take a hold of me, and the next moment… falling prey to one of the many temptations that robs from me the opportunity to glorify and honor God. Ever since God created man to walk upon this earth the story has been the same—we walk with God and praise Him for a time, then we falter and rebel against Him, and He graciously forgives and saves us. After awhile it should become quite apparent that as imperfect, sinful human beings, we are helpless in our quest to do what is right without God’s help (Romans 7:24, 25). We simply do not have the power to survive on our own—we cannot save ourselves from the enemy of our souls, nor can we earn our way into God’s grace. We must fully understand and live by this truth, for it is our only hope. When I came to the realization that I was powerless against the forces of evil and that I had to rely on the mighty power of God to live, He gave me the ability to humbly surrender both my will and my life to Him, and also the wisdom to know that I would always sin and fall short of His glorious standard, and when I did—He would forgive and forget (Romans 3:23-24).
There is no One more gracious, nor One more loving than our Almighty God. And there is no One who is more compassionate and forgiving than Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior (Psalm 86:8). And when this fact is written on your heart you will gain the wisdom of knowing that while you live in this fallen body you will fall short of God’s glory but God has made a way for you to be forgiven and transformed. And when this happens, it will then become amazingly clear who you are and who you are not.

Prayer:

Lord, I thank you for your gracious favor you bestow upon us—even in all our sinfulness. Because of Your faithfulness we now have the hope of a better life to come—one that we can share face to face with You in all Your glory. What a hopeful picture this paints for Your people, who struggle to survive in this fallen world. All the praise and the glory belong to You, O LORD, both now and forever!