We live in a world where things wear out. Our “stuff” wears out ~ our cars, houses, clothes (Okay, maybe not the old 70’s polyester :-)... Our bodies wear out... I don’t know about you, but many times my patience wears out... and sadly, even some of our relationships seem to wear out. But, I found something the other day that doesn’t wear out!
“Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting” (Psalm 138:8)
Think of it; the affection of God toward you NEVER becomes thin nor threadbare. I know some of us may feel like we have made a good go of wearing out God’s lovingkindness with our sin, our ingratitude, our lack of trust, our own self-focused hearts. Others of us may feel, in the midst of trials, as though we wake up each day locked outside of God’s storehouse of lovingkindness, looking in at the windows but with no access.
If you’ve ever read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, then perhaps you remember Christian’s run in with Giant Despair and his imprisonment in Doubting Castle. He was locked in the dungeon, feeling helpless and hopeless, but in that place he managed to pray. Suddenly in amazement, Christian realized and exclaimed, “What a fool am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon, when I may as well walk at liberty? I have a key... called Promise, that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle.”
Well, I have good news for you and me. If we are found in Christ, if we have been adopted into His family, then we, as His daughters, also have that key in our possession and this promise is ours:
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting.” (Psalm 138:8)
In Christ, not only do we have the key to unlock the dungeon door of Doubting Castle, we also have open access to the storehouse of God’s everlasting lovingkindness. As much as we dip into that treasury, it remains undiminished and continually overflows toward us, His daughters.
Picture it this way, if you and I were to stand downstream from the Niagara Falls and dip a glass into the clean, clear waters to drink, how long would it take us to deplete that supply, to drink that river dry? We could dip and drink for a lifetime and never put a dent in the flow. The funny thing is, the water that supplies the Niagara Falls is finite, but...
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting.” (Psalm 138:8)
Regardless of life’s circumstances, God’s kindness and care permeates them all. Do you believe that? Will you join me in choosing to believe that promise... not hypothetically... not from a distance, but right now, this very minute, in the midst of the circumstances in which you find yourself? When we do, it looses our tongues to join David as he sings this song to the Lord,
Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house;
And You give them to drink of the the river of Your delights.
For with You is the fountain of life;
In Your light we see light.
(Psalm 36:5,7-9)
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