Psalm 60:1-12

There are times when we will feel as if God has rejected us.  That feeling is not entirely accurate because it is not exactly God who has rejected us; rather it is us who has rejected God.  Sin has consequences and it has a direct impact on our relationship with God.  We cannot presume that we can live in sin and still experience the same blessings from the Lord in our lives.  When God withholds His blessing from our lives it may feel like He has rejected us.  However, the reality is that He withholds His blessing in an effort to motivate us and draw us back into a right relationship with Him.  Our sufferings are very often permitted by God and subsequently used by God in order to draw us closer to Him.  So when it feels like He has rejected us; the reality is that He is working to bring us back to where we should have always been.

GOD HATES SIN: The reality of life is that God stands against those who live in sin.  God hates sin because it builds a separation between Himself and the people that He loves.  God, by nature is love and He takes great pleasure in lavishing His love on us.  However, God is also, by nature, holy and He cannot maintain fellowship with sin.  He cannot simply ignore sin or pretend that it does not exist.  God must deal with sin and He did so through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  He had to punish sin through separation from Christ so that man might be brought back into fellowship with Him through faith.  God demonstrates His hatred of sin by giving victory to our enemies, breaking down our defenses and bringing hard things into our lives.  It is not that God has rejected us but that He has rejected our sin and is using pain to motivate us to repent and return to His ways so that He can enjoy sweet fellowship with us once again.


GOD HELPS SAINTS: On the other hand, God provides a banner of protection for those who love, fear and obey Him.  God longs to restore us to fellowship with Him.  He wants to repair the breeches in our defenses so that we can live in security and enjoy our relationship with Him.  All that we are and all that we have belongs to Him.  He is the source of our lives and a fountain of blessing to us.  If He does not go out with us there is no point in going out.  He is our only reliable source of help.  It is vanity and arrogance to think that we can trust in men to help us.  God is our valiant defender.  He alone is able to give us the victory we need.  We must live our lives as saints in fear of the Lord so that we might experience His help and His protection along every step on the path of life.  His love is great and His power is without end.  We would be foolish to reject His help by doing that which He hates.

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