Best of Daily Reflections: Hope for the Formerly Faithful

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other.

Psalms 85:8-13

There’s an old saying that when you’re sick, you can’t imagine being well, and when you’re well, you can’t imagine being sick. Psalm 85 is a Psalm for people who, though they were once well, now find themselves ill—physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally—and they are wondering if they will ever be well again.

In this case the sickness was brought on by Israel’s rebellion against God and her rejection of God’s way of life. The sickness is partly spiritual. Materialism, secularism, narcissism, and idolatry have left them spiritually dull. The sickness is partly physical. Rebellion against God is also rebellion against God’s laws of nature, health, and fruitfulness. There’s always a cost for this.

This Psalm is of particular relevance to the “formerly faithful”—both then and now. To all who at one time were devout. They read their Bible, said their prayers, attended worship, were generous with their money, and offered themselves in service to those in need. But somehow that season changed, and the old vitality has faded.

And it is also a Psalm of particular relevance to those who have become trapped in a web of immorality: lying, cheating, addiction, theft, perversion, deceit, unfaithfulness—you fill in the blank. Bridges have been burned, reputations tarnished, and condemning voices awakened.

What can the formerly faithful hope for? How will God respond to them?

Everyone knows that when approaching an automatic sliding door, once the sensor recognizes you the door opens—and it opens all the way. It doesn’t open by degrees that match your approach. For instance, it doesn’t open just an inch if you only approach by an inch. Not at all. Just your tiniest move in the door’s direction flings the door wide open.

Jesus wants us to think of God in that way. Remember that while the prodigal son was still far off, the father came running to greet him. Furthermore, though the son came back expecting to be treated like a slave, the father restored him to full membership in the family.

So here’s what the Psalmist says happens when the formerly faithful turn back toward God.

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.

If you are wondering if you will ever be well again—physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally—then post these words on your dressing room mirror and your refrigerator door to remind you again and again that even the slightest move toward God throws the door wide open and brings the father running with armloads of welcome-home gifts.

BIBLE PASSAGE:

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.

Psalm 85:8-13

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: If you were to chart your spiritual life on a line with highs and lows, where would you plot yourself right now? What factors tend to influence the intensity of your daily walk with Jesus? What difference does it make in your daily life when you stay close to Jesus?

PRAYER: Holy God, whenever I drift away from you, remind me that life without you is really death. It may not feel like death, but it is. I give you permission to throw obstacles in my path whenever I turn and walk away from you. Give me a hunger and a thirst for the life that really is life. Amen.