The Patience of God

34 Psalm 78:34-39

When He slew them, then they sought Him;
And they returned and sought earnestly for God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth,
And they lied to Him with their tongue;
37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
And did not destroy them.
Yes, many a time He turned His anger away,
And did not stir up all His wrath;
39 For He remembered that they were but flesh,
A breath that passes away and does not come again.


        All to often it is not until something drastic happens in our lives that makes someone see that they were going in the wrong direction, not seeking the Lord at all and the Lord eventually pours His wrath on them. This passage tells us that they remembered- meaning at one time they were in full recognition of who God is, and it as if they said "oh yeah He is God". But they still only flattered with words- they only said something that sounded good but there was no true meaning to it at all.

That's a reality check- how often do we who say we are believer and go to church and have a time of worship but that's all- there's no living proof to what we believe and if that's the case there is no true worship. God is so patient with us wanting His whole creation to come repentance. Romans 1 speaks of this progression that we fall into where God who has revealed so much to us but we push everything aside and fulfill our own desires and the first decline that it speaks about in Romans is that we suppress the truth. After all that the Lord has shown us we go even farther and as the scriptures state----although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

After all of this the worst thing eventually happens and the bible records that God gave them over to this form of uncleanness------that's the last thing anyone wants to be given over to something that is so far from who He is; because as we continue God will give us over to our vile passions and them over to a debased mind. Meaning we wont be convicted and we will continue to be in bondage. God want us to understand that His love for us needs to be shown and for pastors and teachers He gives them not only to speak about His love but to speak about what He has laid out for those that put there trust in Him.

When we look at the life of Jesus He was always in some type of confrontation and He would look at the hearts of men and state the truth of His Word, not because He wanted them to be embarrassed but because  He loved them enough to tell them that sin will send the in the wrong direction.

God is so full of compassion- He knows we are but flesh--we just need to recognize that  ourselves and place our trust in Him-amen.