OUR LOVING GOD IS ALWAYS WILLING TO FORGIVE HIS REPENTANT
CHILD
Psalm 66:16-20
16 Come
and hear, all you who fear God,
and
I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I
cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
18 If
I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the
Lord would not have listened.
19 But
truly God has listened;
he
has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed
be God,
because
he has not rejected my prayer
or
removed his steadfast love from me!
God has listened to me! God is my faithful loving Father. He
is the one who heals my wounds. He has rescued me from my life of sin. The Lord
watches over my steps, He has protected me many times that I have seen, and so many more
that I have never been aware of. He rescues me through the words of the Bible
that are so pertinent. He has cared for me through the words of a faithful
pastor or preacher. I have been blessed through the love of godly brothers and
sisters in Christ. My God has perfectly cared for me, and even when I have
strayed, He has brought me back to Himself.
Dear friends, is not this the testimony that all of us could
give? Are these not the words that should be on our lips daily?
The psalmist is calling us to praise with him, but he is
also challenging us to testify of Him.
This testimony is about the care God has for our souls. Dear
friends, are you aware of the many ways God has and is caring for your soul? At
times, we are so focused on our physical needs that we lose sight of the loving
and tender way the Lord cares for our inner being.
As the writer cries out to God in his difficulty, his words
are equally accompanied by faithful praise. The difficulty he is living through
is not blurring his awareness of God’s faithful care. So many times, when I
have taken the time to reflect, I have been able to see how God had prepared me
and my past circumstances to deal with the difficulty at hand. Other times, I
have seen the unfolding of God’s provision and preparation, as the trial moved
along. Nevertheless, I know that God has never abandoned me in the past, and
will never do that in the future. Expectant praise should always accompany my
requests for His help.
How much easier and more productive our times of trial and
difficulties would be, if we truly rested in faith on the perfect and loving
sovereignty of God. It’s not easy; we must prepare our own hearts, and help
others be ready. The apostle Paul knew both the reality of trials and the
reality of God’s love, and that is why he prayed that the believers would know
the same more and more.
Ephesians 3:14-19
For this reason I bow my knees before the
Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according
to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to
comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and
depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God.
This should be one of scripture’s prayers that we commonly pray
for each other. Is there someone you should pray for right now? Have you spent
more time praying that circumstances would change than praying that their soul
would be blessed?
The writer reminds us that purity of heart is very
important. At times, our trial is the loving way God is bringing attention to
our sin. We must confess and come close to God. At times our response to the
difficult circumstances is sinful, and we must confess our lack of faith and
submission. God is reminding us that we must not allow sin to reign in our
lives.
The wonderful blessing is that God never rejects our honest
prayers and is always listening. He is not too busy or distracted. His
attention is always perfect and His answer is always appropriate. Oh, how He
loves to hear His children cry out to Him, as they become more and more
dependent upon Him.
I wonder if His words to me many times would be: “Why did
you not come sooner? Why did you not trust Me more?”
I need these words to remind me and to prepare me for the
difficulties that I will have to encounter in my daily living. God’s love is
continuous and faithful. He loves me because of His faithfulness, not because
of mine!
Do not wait to go to God. Even though you might have strayed,
His faithfulness and His perfect and steadfast love are the bases on which you
can return to Him with full assurance of His grace.
Dear friend, we have said it before: life is hard, pain is
real, but our God is greater than all our hurts and all our sin. May our cries
to Him be accompanied by our trust and praise!
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