The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Psalm 48:14,
"For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end."
This, the closing verse of Psalm 48, points to an underlying current found throughout the psalm, God's enduring faithfulness to those who are his. In verse 8 we read that God makes Zion secure, not for a period, but forever. In verse 9 the Sons of Korah speak of meditating on God's unfailing love. Then we have this closing verse that speaks of God as being "our God" for ever and ever, and that he will be "our guide even to the end."
One of the wonderful aspects of God's nature is that he is eternal. He has always existed and will continue to always exist. His love for us never changes. We will never wake up to find that God has changed his mind and no longer cares for us. His kingdom and what he has prepared for those who are his will endure with no end.
The Scriptures often refer to this aspect of God as his faithfulness. Never changing, never abandoning us, he is always and continuously faithful to us, both in his love for us and his promises to us.
I am reminded of an interesting observation Paul makes about God's interaction with both patriarchal Israel and his new entity, predestined before the creation of the earth, the church, "As far as the gospel is concerned, they [Israel] are enemies for your [the Gentile church] sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." Here is an amazing confession of the faithfulness of God, in this case to Israel.
Likewise, God's faithfulness is found to be the basis for confidence for the the church in Corinth, and by extension, all of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
It is due to that faithful nature of God that all believers can have confidence that nothing will ever separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. This is how Paul puts it in Romans 8:33-39 in an astonishing proclamation of the confidence we should all have due to God's faithfulness:
"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God's enduring faithfulness!
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..
"For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end."
This, the closing verse of Psalm 48, points to an underlying current found throughout the psalm, God's enduring faithfulness to those who are his. In verse 8 we read that God makes Zion secure, not for a period, but forever. In verse 9 the Sons of Korah speak of meditating on God's unfailing love. Then we have this closing verse that speaks of God as being "our God" for ever and ever, and that he will be "our guide even to the end."
One of the wonderful aspects of God's nature is that he is eternal. He has always existed and will continue to always exist. His love for us never changes. We will never wake up to find that God has changed his mind and no longer cares for us. His kingdom and what he has prepared for those who are his will endure with no end.
The Scriptures often refer to this aspect of God as his faithfulness. Never changing, never abandoning us, he is always and continuously faithful to us, both in his love for us and his promises to us.
I am reminded of an interesting observation Paul makes about God's interaction with both patriarchal Israel and his new entity, predestined before the creation of the earth, the church, "As far as the gospel is concerned, they [Israel] are enemies for your [the Gentile church] sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." Here is an amazing confession of the faithfulness of God, in this case to Israel.
Likewise, God's faithfulness is found to be the basis for confidence for the the church in Corinth, and by extension, all of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."
It is due to that faithful nature of God that all believers can have confidence that nothing will ever separate us from the love of Jesus Christ. This is how Paul puts it in Romans 8:33-39 in an astonishing proclamation of the confidence we should all have due to God's faithfulness:
"Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
God's enduring faithfulness!
A blog with my ruminations over the years can be found here: http://worshipfortoday.blogspot.com/
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know..
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