76: CORE TRUTH- LIVING IN GOD’S UNFAILING LOVE: While
God disciplines us to make us better people, we also receive God’s comfort
through his unfailing love. It’s
no coincidence that immediately following his comment about discipline, the
psalmist reflects on God’s love.
God’s way at first seems harder, yes, but God’s way is richer, is more
secure, has more comfort, is more encouraging, and uplifting. In the midst of learning the discipline
of living according to God’s ways, comfort comes to us by way of his unfailing
love. All of this is in line with
his promise to his people. Those
who follow in God’s footsteps will know his unfailing love. The phrase in Hebrew here pictures God
coming to us as a friend. He’s not
going to let us get away with wrecking our lives, he’s going to call us on our
behavior; he’s a true friend. But
he’s also not going to just punish us, but he’s going to love us
unfailingly. It’s part of his entire
promise throughout the Bible.
God’s love is unfailing.
His love never fails. So
the psalmist remembers the essence of God’s character and appeals to God in
verse 76, “May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise
to your servant.” We have hope and assurance that God will be an
ever-present help to us. And this
relates to the next core truth…
77: CORE TRUTH- LIVING IN GOD’S COMPASSION: The psalmist prays, “Let your compassion come to
me that I may live, for your law is my delight.” The more the writer of this psalm seemed to pursue and
enjoy God’s ways, the more he asked for God’s compassion. As he allowed himself to be shaped by
God’s hands, the softer his heart grew.
He’d learned that when he lived a life separate from God’s ways, then
life is not truly lived. The only
way to live like you were created to live is to live in the core truths of
God’s unfailing love and his generous compassion. When we are armed with the strength of God’s
unrelenting resolve of love and passion for us, then we can live well in His
hope and we can rejoice even in suffering. And precisely because it is hard to live well in this life
in this world in any given year, we must delight in God’s unfailing love and
his unending compassion.
