When King David recalled all the afflictions the Lord had brought him through in his life, he recalls the comfort God’s Word provided… “Your Word has caused me to hope (wait confidently and expectantly for coming good); this is my comfort in my affliction: for Your Word has revived me… I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord, and I have comforted myself… Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage. I have remembered Your name, O Lord, in the night… This I had because I kept Your precepts” (Psalm 119:49-56).
The precepts and statutes of God’s Word provide principles of God’s dealings with mankind that do not change over time because God doesn’t change... “I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). The same God who judged Pharaoh, Babylon, and Nineveh’s tyranny of old, will judge arrogant leaders of our day. The same God who judged the false prophets of old, will judge the false teachers of our day. The same God who protected and vindicated His people of old, will yet do the same to those who honor Him today.
God’s “goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering” has been extended to all mankind, that the marvelous offer of pardon through the Cross might lead people to repentance. But these days of God's patience will end, and the evil we're seeing will end in two ways of individual accountability to the Cross…
“God will render to every person according to their deeds: to those who by patiently continuing in well-doing seek for glory, honor, immorality - eternal life. But to those who are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness - indignation, wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that works evil… but glory, honor, peace, to every person that works good… for there is no respect of persons with God.” (Romans 2:6-10)
Until we hear the skies split with the power of Christ’s return, we too have God’s Word, giving us hope (the confident expectation of coming good) , comfort, strength, daily purpose, songs in the night, and assurance of His love. For us it is present tense…
“This we have because we keep Your precepts.
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