PSALM 89:30-33 – If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness.
THEME OF THE DAY. THEY ARE STRIPES OF LOVE. God provides us many ways to have personal assurance of salvation and affirm our identity as His children. One He uses often because we need it often is spiritual correction or discipline; or in the term in today’s scriptures – “the rod.” More specific, the Psalmist writes, “Then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes”. When His rod of correction comes into our lives, two truths must be leaned upon in the experience if we are to benefit from it and rejoice in it.
First, any discipline by the Lord is going to hurt. It might be “little” pain, or extreme hurt. It depends on how we respond. If one is sensitive to sin and quick to obey God in confession and repentance, the “smart from His rod” may be of short duration. However, if we are persistent in harboring the sin that brought the Hand of discipline from our Father; or we are resistant to what God wants to accomplish through His correcting rod, the pain in this work will continue. And He might “turn up the heat” to get us to submit to Him. But here is the warning. If we claim to be Christians, and feel no “heart pain” over sin, or sense no displeasure from the Lord toward our behavior, we are in spiritual trouble. God’s Word says, “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:11-12). No conviction for sin, no correction because of sin means no relationship with the Lord. Yes, discipline is painful, but rejoice, its presence affirms we are God’s children.
The second truth of God’s work of correction and inflicting stripes upon us is, despite the pain, it is for a good purpose. We read in the letter to the Hebrews what this purpose is . . . It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:7-11). God’s purpose in disciplining and correcting us is to make us holy as He is holy. And the reason why it is a work of God in us all the time is because we need it all the time. But take heart. Even though it hurts, it is good. It affirms we are His child bringing joy in the pain, and it produces what we are called to – holiness.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to always see behind Your discipline toward me the rod held in Your hand of love.”
QUOTE: “God’s discipline always comes in loving correction not harsh condemnation.”