76: CORE TRUTH- LIVING IN GOD’S UNFAILING LOVE: While God disciplines us to make us better people, we also receive God’s comfort through his unfailing love. It’s no coincidence that immediately following his comment about discipline, the psalmist reflects on God’s love. God’s way at first seems harder, yes, but God’s way is richer, is more secure, has more comfort, is more encouraging, and up-lifting. In the midst of learning the discipline of living according to God’s ways, comfort comes to us by way of his unfailing love. All of this is in line with his promise to his people. Those who follow in God’s footsteps will know his unfailing love. The phrase in Hebrew here pictures God coming to us as a friend. He’s not going to let us get away with wrecking our lives, he’s going to call us on our behavior; he’s a true friend. But he’s also not going to just punish us, but he’s going to love us unfailingly. It’s part of his entire promise throughout the Bible. God’s love is unfailing. His love never fails. So the psalmist remembers the essence of God’s character and appeals to God in verse 76, “May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.” We have hope and assurance that God will be an ever-present help to us. And this relates to the next core truth…
77: CORE TRUTH- LIVING IN GOD’S COMPASSION: The psalmist prays, “Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.” The more the writer of this psalm seemed to pursue and enjoy God’s ways, the more he asked for God’s compassion. As he allowed himself to be shaped byGod’s hands, the softer his heart grew. He’d learned that when he lived a life separate from God’s ways, then life is not truly lived. The only way to live like you were created to live is to live in the core truths of God’s unfailing love and his generous compassion. When we are armed with the strength of God’s unrelenting resolve of love and passion for us, then we can live well in His hope and we can rejoice even in suffering. And precisely because it is hard to live well in this life in this world in any given year, we must delight in God’s unfailing love and his unending compassion.