STEADFAST LOVE

 

November 21, 2023

Psalm 100:4-5

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise! Give thanks to Him; bless His Name! For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.

 

We know that human love can sometimes fail. People who profess love for one another can become unfaithful. Family members argue over politics, faith, or finances and refuse to settle their disagreements. Scripture speaks of the unexpected failure of a mother's love, contrasting that possibility with divine love than cannot fail. God asks His people to consider that shattering loss and then speaks of His comfort: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget,  I will not forget you! (Isaiah 49:15). The psalmist in our reading today calls on us to give thanks for the enduring, steadfast love and faithfulness of God.

This steadfast love is not based on our accomplishments. It is not determined by how deserving we imagine ourselves to be. God's love is not just a pleasant "feeling" or warm thoughts. This is covenant love it is expressed in the self-sacrifice of God Himself. God first spoke of that sacrificial love in the Garden of Eden, promising that the Offspring of the woman would come to destroy the tempting serpent. Through the centuries, the promise of the Savior was repeated in the words of the prophets. Finally, when the time was right, God's steadfast, self-sacrificing love was expressed in the gift of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9).

Our Psalm above reminds us that we enter God's presence to worship and bless His Name, giving thanks for His steadfast love and faithfulness. The Bible’s promise is that one day, we will enter God’s heavenly courts with praise and give thanks  for the steadfast love that endures forever and ever!