God's Steadfast Love to Those Who Know Him

“Transgression speaks to the wicked

    deep in his heart;

there is no fear of God

    before his eyes.

For he flatters himself in his own eyes

    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;

    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.

He plots trouble while on his bed;

    he sets himself in a way that is not good;

    he does not reject evil.” (Psalms 36:1-4 ESV)

Sadly this is not speaking only of those who have never made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. This is speaking largely, as well, of many who profess faith in Jesus Christ and who attend weekly gatherings of the church (or of the false church) and who believe that when they die that they are going to go to heaven. For many of them have put their trust in a diluted and altered gospel message of human origin which promises them forgiveness of all sins and heaven when they die, but regardless of how they live. But that is not biblical faith nor is it the gospel that Jesus and his NT apostles taught.

So, if these first four verses describe the kind of life that you are now living, and sin is your practice, and obedience to the Lord and holy living are not your practice, please know that the Scriptures teach that you are not in fellowship with Jesus Christ, you do not know God, and you are not born of God, but you are of the devil. And although you profess faith in Jesus Christ you will not inherit eternal life with him because obedience to God is not your practice, but sin is your practice. So you take God’s grace to you for granted, and you do not take his words seriously, so you don’t reject evil.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

    your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

    your judgments are like the great deep;

    man and beast you save, O Lord.” (Psalms 36:5-6 ESV)

Now, in contrast to the wicked who make sin their practice and who do not obey the commandments of God, in practice, our God is faithful in all that he does, and in all that he says, and in all that he promises and warns us about, too. He is true to who he says he is and to all that he says that he will do. And his whole purpose in sending Jesus Christ to that cross to die for our sins was to deliver us out of our slavery (addiction) to sin so that we will now walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, in faithful surrender to him and to his will for our lives (see Romans 6:1-23).

And so he let us know in advance that if we choose to not obey him, and if we choose to continue in sin, in deliberate and habitual sin, that we should not expect that he will receive us into his heaven. He will not! But he will say to all who called him, “Lord,” but who did not do what he said, “I never knew you! Depart from me you workers of lawlessness” (see Matthew 7:21-23). For he told us that if we want to come after him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him if we want to have salvation from sin and eternal life with God (see Luke 9:23-26).

“Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,

    and your righteousness to the upright of heart!

Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

    nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

There the evildoers lie fallen;

    they are thrust down, unable to rise.” (Psalms 36:10-12 ESV)

God’s steadfast love and faithfulness is for all who know him. But if we say that we know God, but we do not obey him, in practice, we are liars who do not live by the truth (1 John 2:3-6). And if we claim to be in fellowship with Jesus Christ, but we still walk (in conduct, in practice) in sin, we are liars, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:5-10). For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness, we are not born of God, and we do not have eternal life with God, regardless of what faith in him we profess. For it is not lip service, but obedience and righteous living that God requires of us (1 John 3:4-10).

So, those who know the Lord are those who have died with him to sin, and who are continuing to die to sin, in practice, and who are walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, in practice. For it is those who make righteousness their practice who are righteous in the eyes of the Lord, not those who merely make a profession of him as Lord and as Savior. For the upright in heart are those who are walking in moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness to the Lord, who humbly serve the Lord Jesus with their lives, and who do not plot evil on their beds, but who honor Christ with their lives.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Thomas O. Chisholm / William M. Runyan

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;

There is no shadow of turning with Thee;

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;

As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Great is Thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;

Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e77lys3vhI

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