The Unfailing Love of Almighty God – Psalm 51:1
In this immortal psalm and prayer for forgiveness, restoration,
reconciliation and resilience, David describes the love of Almighty God as
unfailing. This characterization is one
of my most favorite biblical descriptions of the remarkable and infinite love
of God. David begins this psalm, written
after his confrontation with the prophet, Nathan, regarding David’s adulterous
affair with Bathsheba and murderous plot of Uriah, with a plea for mercy. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your
unfailing love; according to your great compassion.” Appealing to the unshakable affection of God,
David asks for forgiveness and pardon.
He offers this penitent petition because he knows that God’s love is never
in question.
It seems rather bold that a man who greatly abuses his royal and
political power by summoning a married woman to him so that he may commit
adultery with her and then designing a scheme that results her husband’s death,
would audaciously refer to the love of God as his defense. Yet, David’s enduring and vibrant
relationship with God reassures him that God’s love never fails irrespective of
the circumstances in which David finds himself.
The God, who spares David’s life on several occasions when Saul unjustly
and jealously attempts to murder David; protects him from wild beasts as a
shepherd; and guards David’s soul as he walks through the valley of the shadow
of death; also loves David enough to forgive these egregious sins and transgressions
of moral law. The Hebrew word for love
in this passage is hesed which means undying loyalty. Accordingly, the devotion of God’s love can
surmount any situation regardless of its unfortunate nature.
As a father of a nine-year old son, I appreciate the hesed of Almighty
God. There are times when my son makes
some unwise choices. He may antagonize
his sister. He may fail to do his chores. His tone may not have the right modulation of
respect and deference. He may join the
crowd at school in laughing and misbehaving.
But, the sum of all those things never equates with nullifying my love
for me. My love for my son is never in
question! I cannot imagine anything that
he would do that could cancel my love for him.
That insight emerges from my increasing understanding of the infinite
and unfailing love of God. Nothing that
I do can ever call the love of my Heavenly Father into question.
However, God allows me to face the consequences of my choices. In 2 Samuel 12 and 13, David faces extreme
outcomes to his self-aggrandizing choices.
The son that Bathsheba conceives dies as David’s just punishment for his
despicable actions. You will recall that
David intercedes fiercely for the life of this child when he learns that the
baby is sick. Nevertheless, the Lord, in
His direct will, insists through the prophetic condemnation of David’s
dastardly deeds that David must experience the pain and bitter fruit of his
choices. Notwithstanding the firmness of
divine justice in this instance, God’s love remains unfailing. He walks with David as David accepts
accountability for his sins and lives into the results of his choices.
Regrettably, many believers retain an image of God as the great big
“Gotcha God” who resides in heaven as an autocrat waiting to delve out
punishment to all persons who transgress minutely upon His holiness and
law. The fear of hell prevents many of
us from experiencing the love of God. The
fallacious notion that our sins exceed His willingness to love us into a right
relationship with Him prevents us from appealing to that very same love as our
best and most formidable defense in the midst of moral and ethical lapses.
A recent incident in American legal history vividly depicts the loyal
and unfailing love of Almighty God. The
individual ultimately held legally responsible for the bombing of Alfred P.
Murrah Building Oklahoma City , OK U. S.
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