Faithful

Ps. 89:28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my covenant will stand firm for him.
29 I will establish his offspring forever
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,
31 if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness;
I will not lie to David.
36 His offspring shall endure forever,
his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 Like the moon it shall be established forever,
a faithful witness in the skies."

What a great promise to the house of David and what an amazing testament to the faithfulness of God.

God gives David a promise and tells him that even if, and of course God knows that this is not "if" but "when" and "how often" His children forsake their part of the covenant, that this will not nullify His part. He will uphold His covenant even when they run the other way. What unfailing love, for a stubborn people. It is really amazing to think, in some small way, that God is as patient with us as He is. To be perfectly holy and yet still never give up on His elect. When all others break their promises, He still remains faithful.

What should this tell us about how we are to live with His children? Even when others don't do what we think they should be doing, we should be faithful to admonish them, but we also should be faithfully loving them and trying to direct them back to God's way. If God, being perfectly holy, can never break His promise and is faithful to sinners, then how much more should we be long-suffering with others, since we are in the same position as they are?

A good reminder of His great love and faithfulness and of our fickle love toward others and our unfaithfulness to Him.