“As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!”
– Psalm 40:11
How could David be so confident in God’s mercy, love, and faithfulness toward him? In the very next verse, David writes about his mounting troubles and confesses his many sins. How could he count on God’s kindness despite those things? Because David understood that mercy, love, and faithfulness are part of God’s essential nature! They are Who God is and that will never change.
God isn’t merciful, loving, and faithful toward us because we deserve it. He is merciful, loving, and faithful because that’s exactly Who and what He is at all times (see Exodus 34:6-7). You don’t have to assess your own life history to determine whether God will be merciful toward you. He IS merciful and you can count on that. You don’t need to consider how well you love God to decide if He’s going to love you. He IS loving and you can count on that. You don’t have to make a list of what you’ve done lately for God to determine if He’ll be faithful toward you. He IS faithful and you can count on that.
These are unchanging qualities of God. They don’t depend on our feelings or actions in any way. God proved that when He sent His Son, Jesus, into the world to take our sins upon Himself. The sending of His beloved Son to live on earth and to suffer, die, and rise from the dead demonstrated His deep mercy, steadfast love, and eternal faithfulness. God did that while we were still in rebellion against Him. He made the first move and the greatest sacrifice to forgive our sins and reconcile us to Him.
Christ’s saving, atoning, restoring, reconciling, work on the cross reflects God’s unchanging nature which is merciful, steadfastly loving, and eternally faithful. This is why David could count on these things despite all the challenges in his life and despite his own sins and failures. The good news is that you can count on those things too! Trust in Jesus and be confident in God’s glorious, unchanging nature! #FollowJesus