FAITHFUL TO THE UNFAITHFUL

Who is a God like You,

Pardoning iniquity

And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?

He does not retain His anger forever,

Because He delights in mercy.  (Micah 7:18)

We can be faithful to God, even if those about us are unfaithful.  That was what Micah faced, and we hear the despair in his voice as we come to the final chapter of his prophecy (v.1).  It is hard to be faithful when you are not fruitful.  He considers his ministry and despite all his effort, the people will not listen.  He declares that the faithful are not to be found (v.2).  Far from the nation being a holy people and practicing righteousness, the man of God offers an indictment of the many crimes of Israel.  From the prince in the throne room, to the judge in the courtroom, and the businessman in the merchant shop, there is bribery and injustice (v.3).  They would not evade punishment for their wickedness forever—a day of reckoning was coming (v.4).

Micah felt as though no one could be trusted (v.5-6).  Even his friends and family failed him.  There is One, however, we can always trust—God will be faithful when no one else is (v.7).  We are to “look to the LORD,” for to look around us is to find reason to despair, but to look above us is to find strength to stay true.  We must “wait for…God,” resisting the cultural current with the anchor of the hope of salvation.  We ought to continue to call upon the Lord for He “will hear,” and answer in His time and in His way.  There was a supplanting of fear with faith, as the prophet looked past the unfaithfulness of men to the faithfulness of God (v.8-10).

The love, grace, and mercy of God are unchangeable—His purposes unalterable and promises unbreakable—despite the faithlessness of men.  The Good Shepherd will care for His flock—even the straying ones (v.11-20).  His rod of correction may chasten His sheep, but His staff will lift them and lead them when they fall.  What a comfort this is!

None compares to our great God!  His forgiveness reaches to the most unfaithful.  His anger has its limits, but His mercy knows no bounds!  His grace will conquer.  God takes our sins and casts them into the deepest ocean, and places a sign that says, “NO FISHING”!  He is the covenant keeping God.  His truth was sufficient to overwhelm the deceitful nature of a stubborn rogue like Jacob.  His mercy was enough to reach into a pagan city and call an idolatrous man named Abraham to faith.

God is good when we are not.  His grace abounds to the chief of sinners.  Do not despair because of the unfaithfulness all about you, but meditate deeply on the faithfulness of an unfailing God!  Stop looking around at others, and look up at Omnipotence.  It will make all the difference.

STORM WARNING

“I will call to the LORD, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking a king for yourselves.”  (1 Samuel 12:17b)

When clouds gather, lightning flashes, thunder rolls, and conditions are present for destructive storms, the National Weather Service will issue a storm warning.  Data is collected and analyzed, as sensitive instruments indicate dangers that might otherwise catch people unprepared.  Samuel was a man sensitive to the Spirit.  In chapter twelve of 1 Samuel, he issues a storm warning.  God sends a literal storm to confirm the message.  Israel’s first king, Saul has led an impressive victory, but Samuel warns of a storm that is coming.

Samuel had been faithful—his life an inspiring example (v.1-5).  There had been a remarkable consistency from the dawn of his childhood, the brilliant noonday of his ministry, and now as evening shadows of age gather around him, he will leave a legacy of devotion to God and His people.  Will this be our testimony?  Will we end well?  God help us to be faithful!

The Lord is the ultimate model of faithfulness.  Whereas, He has been faithful to His people, they had not been to Him (v.6-11).  They forgot the Lord!  Even so, God disciplined them and did not disown them—remaining devoted to them and delivering them.  For the blessing of God to rest on them, they must fear Him and obey Him (v.12-15).  Those are still the twin rails upon which God’s train of blessing runs—the old T & O: Trust and Obey!

God drives home the point rather dramatically (v.16-18).  During the time of the wheat harvest, rain in rare in Palestine.  God stirs up a storm to show them who is in charge.  The people had demanded a king to reign over them.  In so doing, they had rejected the Lord from being their ruler.  God yielded to their request, but reminded them that their decision would not go well—and that a gnat may as well try to control a rhinoceros as for them to think they could depose God.

Their future prospects would be determined by the degree of their faithful performance (v.19-21).  They confess their sin and cry out for mercy—which is always a good place to start.  If we are off track, the first step to getting back online is to admit it—and that we need God’s help to do so.  That confession is followed by a choice—to spurn the empty wells of this world and drink from God’s fountain that never runs dry.  Our Father may reprove us, but He will not reject us; He may correct us, but will not cast us out (v.22).  He did not choose Israel because they deserved it, but solely by grace.  That is true of us, as well.

If we would stay in touch with God, then His power would deliver us, and His hand would direct us.  Samuel had such a lifestyle of communion with the Almighty (v.23).  To this example here is added the testimony of Ps.99:6 and Jer.15:1.  If we never become faithful in prayer, we will never be faithful in anything else.  How could we fail to delight in His presence and submit in obedience in view of all He has done for us?  Samuel drives home the point (v.24-25).

If God is giving you a storm warning, it is time to drop to your knees and seek shelter in Him!

THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD TO AN UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE

 

“For My name’s sake I will defer My anger,

And for My praise I will restrain it from you,

So that I do not cut you off.”  (Isaiah 48:9)

The great faithfulness of God is extolled throughout Scripture.  It is a dominant theme in Isaiah 48.  It is particularly amazing when contrasted with the grave unfaithfulness of His people.  The prophet is addressing the nation of Israel—a recalcitrant lot.  He records God’s description of them,

Because I knew that you were obstinate,

And your neck was an iron sinew,

 And your brow bronze…. 

For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,

And were called a transgressor from the womb.  (v.4,8b)

That is an apt description of His people far too often.  We are marked by unfaithfulness also.  Our great comfort is to know that the God of Israel is our God; as He has been true to His Word concerning them, He will honor His name by being faithful to us!

God’s faithfulness is seen in His patience with His unfaithful people (v.1-11).  Israel was treacherous in their conduct, but God is true to His covenant.  This is the manifest patience of God.  The Lord is not through with the Jew.  He still has a plan for the hard-headed and hard-hearted people.  These wayward sons have been disciplined, but not disinherited.  The fires of affliction were not a token of God’s abandonment, but a testimony of His involvement.  The glory of God’s name is forever bound to His faithfulness to those who are identified with Him.  Whatever it takes to turn the rebellious into a faithful people shall be done.  You can count on that!

God’s faithfulness is observed in His preservation of His unfaithful people (v.12-15, 20-22)  The Creator has hung this globe in space and set its course through the stars.  All that He has made provides an environment where His people can prosper.  Before there were lungs to breathe, there was oxygen ordained.  The water was flowing crystal clear to quench thirst before there was a tongue desiring it.  When a stomach was fashioned to hunger, grain, fruit, and vegetables were already flourishing in the garden.  Even when Israel found itself in a desolate wilderness—and that due to their unfaithfulness—God provided for them.  Enemies would hate them and hurt them, instruments of God to break them of their stubborn sinfulness.  God preserved them nonetheless.  How grateful we should be for His faithfulness to preserve us—that none can pluck us from His hand!

God’s faithfulness is bound to His purpose for His unfaithful people (v.16-19).  The waywardness of our steps does not change the path He has set.  We can kick against the goads, like a stubborn ox, but the Almighty is faithful to turn us to His will.  Resistance is futile!  God is the Redeemer.  He purchases those who are enslaved by fetters of sin—shackles of their own making.  He is Holy, and will make us holy as a Potter shaping the clay.  Israel’s unfaithfulness meant they were besieged with war when God would have given them peace.  The nation could have prospered through submission, but suffered loss from their rebellion.  Still, God’s purpose is unalterable.  We dare not think our unfaithfulness is of no consequence.  Defiance brings discipline.  What we can rejoice in is that God is faithful even to afflict us—that His correction is for our ultimate good.

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

 

“For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand.  He knows your trudging through this great wilderness.  These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” (Deuteronomy 2:7)

If you are not acquainted with the words of that grand old hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” you ought to be.  It is based on the text in Lamentations 3:22-23,

Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed,

Because His compassions fail not. 

 They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness. 

In our text for today’s devotional, Moses echoes that same refrain.  Moses is 120 and facing death.  He rehearses God’s faithfulness to a new generation of Israelites who will cross Jordan and enter the Promised Land.

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL IN HIS PROVISION, “For the LORD your God has blessed you…you have lacked nothing.”  God gave them bread from heaven—manna every morning.  In the desert, he gave them water from a rock.  Their clothing and sandals did not wear out.  They were sheltered from the sun by day by the cloud, which became a pillar of fire to light and warm the camp by night.  I have come to the place where my hair has turned white as a morning frost, where I start the day with a groan and end it with a sigh, where my steps are neither as swift nor steady as in youth, and I can actually access my retirement funds!  Despite all the challenges aging brings, I can face tomorrow without fear, for I have see God’s faithfulness in the past.  I am not a rich man, by any means, but God has always blessed me with enough—more than enough!

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL IN HIS PROVIDENCE, “He knows your trudging through this great wilderness.”  Trudging—that is a picturesque term, which describes my gait so well!  Life is tough.  The Jews journey through that great wilderness was filled with difficulty and fraught with danger.  There were some stumbles and setbacks on the way, but trudge on they did, because God was leading His dear children along.  That is what providence is all about.  God knows the way we travel; He sees ahead the road we are taking; He has a predetermined end for our pilgrimage.  What God knows of the future is fixed and certain, but what we know is by faith and conviction.  We live life forward, but we understand it backward.  Surveying my life story leads me to testify that God has directed my steps and gives me confidence He will guide me into the future.

GOD HAS BEEN FAITHFUL IN HIS PRESENCE, “These forty years the LORD your God has been with you….”  In all places and at all times, God had been with them.  They failed Him, but He did not fail them.  As we get older, things change.  Friends and family we have known begin to die—the circle of relationships shrinks here and grows larger in heaven.  The unchanging God has promised to never leave us, nor forsake us!  If our path takes us into the hospital, the nursing home, or hospice as a prelude to the funeral home, God will shelter us in His arms and secure us in His love.  “Great Is Thy faithfulness!” is our testimony now and will be our theme forever!

CONFIDENCE TO CONFRONT LIFE’S CHALLENGES

 

I will love You, O LORD, my strength. (Psalm 18:1)

After watching TV, I am convinced that there is nothing good happening anywhere!  Do you ever feel that way?  The fact is life is not easy.  God never promised it would be. We enter the world with nothing and exit the same way.  We are born through great trauma, as we struggle to catch our first breath, and often die in great trauma as we struggle for our final breath!  That sets the tone for life on a planet ravaged by the curse of sin.  The author of this Psalm, David, could attest to that.  Life was not easy for him, yet, the difficulties made the deliverance all the sweeter.  His testimony can inspire us to have confidence to confront life’s challenges. 

He sings of CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S PERSON (v.1-3). This confidence is expressed in OUR WORSHIP.  David expresses His love to God.  God had proven His love to David.  “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)  Love is an act of the will foremost—more than a feeling, though emotion is certainly important.  It is a promise to love forever—an oath of loyalty.  He is Yahweh—and David is in a covenant relationship with Him.  Out of this relationship flows strength.  David’s strength would have proven insufficient for the challenges he faced, but it did not depend on him—and God’s power is more than enough!

David expresses CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S PERCEPTION (v.4-6).  The Almighty God knows OUR WEAKNESS.  Not even a little bird flutters and falls to the ground without His notice.  Do not think God is unaware and uncaring.  David felt as though a tsunami of trouble would drown him.  Perhaps you can identify.  Fear was threatening to supplant faith.  David was in a dark pit of depression.  Sometimes we seem in a hole we cannot escape.   Not only troubles, but tears are part of our path.  Still, there are no tears unseen by God (Ps.56:8).  He keeps them as a memorial; He acts in His time. Troubles, tears and traps—it is a perfect picture of peril.  Distress has a way of driving us to God, however—and that is a good thing!   

The Psalmist declares CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S POWER (v.7-45). We face the reality of OUR WARFARE.  In most of his battles, David was outmanned and overmatched.  Remember the words of William Carey, founder of the modern missions movement, rightly said, “One with God is a majority.”  In poetic language, David recalls the mighty deliverances of God in the nation’s past—the deliverance from Egypt’s slavery in the Exodus and the victories in Canaan under Joshua.  David had experienced his own deliverances.  Recalling such past help inspires confidence in our current conflicts.

David’s lyrics voice CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S PURPOSE (v.46-50).  David’s personal triumph leads him to a public testimony.  He is the living God—eternal and unchangeable—a Rock that cannot be moved.  That which He has purposed concerning us moves inexorably to its completion.   He is the Lord God—all powerful and unconquerable.  He subdues our enemies.  His purposes cannot be thwarted.  David in essence sings, “How great is our God!”  He wants the world to know—even the Gentiles should know.  Our world is a desperate place and we alone know where hope is found.  Like David, having experienced deliverance from sin, we extend this witness to others.  This is how to have confidence to confront life’s challenges.

NO OUTCASTS, NO ORPHANS

 

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,

And not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.  ‎
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands;
Your walls are continually before Me.”  (Isaiah 49:15-16)

Heartbreaking news stories sometimes come to our attention of abandoned and abused children.  We react with revulsion because that is against the natural order of things.  Any parent with an ounce of humanity cannot do this.  Feeble, failing human beings have a God-given drive inside of them to care for their little ones.  Dare we think a perfect Heavenly Father of infinite love would neglect us?  There is a song by the contemporary Christian music group, “Avalon” that says,

There are no strangers
There are no outcasts
There are no orphans of God
So many fallen, but hallelujah
There are no orphans of God.

To that I echo, “Hallelujah!”  It is true.  As a name tattooed on our skin would fix an indelible mark, so God has engraved His children’s names on His hands.  That is more than a metaphor, it is a literal truth concerning the scars engraved in the hands of the crucified Christ—perpetual reminders before the Father of the sacrifice of His Son that made us His children.  The only way that God would forget us is if He would forget the price His Beloved paid for the sin debt we owed.  He will not!

Isaiah speaks here of the walls of Jerusalem.  Those walls have at times been battered and even broken by invaders—and today are threatened by a host of enemies that encircle the nation of Israel.  Those sorrows have been due, not to God’s neglect of them, but their neglect of Him!  Sadly, the nation is yet in unbelief and faces more pain in the future.  This does not, however, mean God has forgotten His promise—quite the opposite!  His chastisement is a token of His love.  He uses the pain to correct and drive the people back to Him!  He has made a covenant with Israel.  He knows where the foundations of Jerusalem’s walls are.  They have been rebuilt in the past when the people repented and they will be in the future—most gloriously so!  Perhaps you feel God has forgotten you.  Might it be that you have forgotten Him—and He, like the father of the Prodigal Son, ever watches and waits for you to come back home.  He will embrace you with open arms.  “There are no outcasts, there are no orphans of God.”