Would you agree to marry someone you knew would be unfaithful to you? I think most of us would answer that question with a resounding “No!” But that is exactly what God did when he established his covenant relationship with Israel. We see this demonstrated beautifully through the prophet Hosea. God commissioned Hosea to marry a woman named Gomer who would be unfaithful to Hosea. Hosea’s marriage to Gomer acted as a living parable for God and his covenantal relationship with his unfaithful bride, Israel. And in Hosea’s commitment to Gomer, we are given a picture of God’s unfailing love and faithfulness to his people despite their unfaithfulness.
We might be inclined to judge Israel for her unfaithfulness. After all, how can you witness the miraculous wonders that God performed on your behalf to save you over and over again and still turn away from him? The New Testament helps us to understand Israel’s continuous rebellion. Drawing from various passages in Psalms, Paul wrote to the church at Rome that “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. . . . no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10–12).
You see, Israel’s unfaithfulness was a result of our human condition: we are incapable of living up to God’s perfect moral standard. And the law is incapable of making us good. Later in that same chapter, Paul said, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (v. 20). The law reveals our sin like a spotlight on a dark night. It makes us aware of the ugliness inside of us and how we are helpless to purge it from ourselves.
At this point, you might be tempted to despair. You might wonder what the point of seeking righteousness or trying to be good is if you’re incapable of actually doing it. And that’s how we should feel when we look at ourselves rightly through the lens of God’s perfection and see how we don’t measure up, because that brings us to the place of realizing that we need help. We need someone outside of ourselves to remove our sin and to bring us into a right relationship with God.
God knew that, too. And he had a plan.
Even if some would believe Psalm 23 is only for funerals and grief, it also shows God‘s faithfulness to walk us through the valleys of our sinful nature. His rod and a staff comfort us even in our” sinful repentance”. Even as the” unfaithful bride” he is faithful to our needs as his promises and covenants show over and over. God is all we need ! God be praised with the glory and honor of the faithfulness of the saints before us ! Saints are just the sinners who fell down and got up and fell down and call Father God , Forgive my unfaithfulness …
I see how opposite I am to His law. Through His example and through His law, I see just how wayward I am and just how much I truly need Him in my life. I can’t save myself; even following the law perfectly, I can’t save myself. I need God in each and every moment to overcome my sin.
Without it, I would not know my sin or that even thoughts can be sinful
By understanding His word, and having that word in my heart, I am reminded of my tendency to sin. I am better able to recognize when Satan seeks to destroy relationships, when the father of lies tries to plant seeds of doubt and division. By reflecting on the covenants God made with his people in ancient times, and seeing the waffling ways of the people, I am reminded of my own imperfection and that it is often very difficult to see how fickle we are in our faith. Thank God for Jesus and the Holy Spirit! Thank God for His unending promises!
The law helps me to have boundaries, limits so I can feel secure. But also shows me how limited and incapable I am.
The law points me to my errors and how despaired I am for a savior because I could never measure up.
So this being said, I know that by law I couldn’t keep it but it’s by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit I can be restored and ‘the work that He started, He will be faithful to finished till the end’ (Phil 1:6)
That I sin everyday, even though I don’t want to.
I need him desperately to guide me and help me and forgive me
To me God’s law is much deeper, much more than words on a page. God’s law convicts me of my thoughts and intentions as well as my actions and reactions, words and deeds. His law convicts me in times when I know to do good, to be generous with time, empathy, wealth or resources, and such, and do not do it. God’s law is the reason I have convictions.
God’s Law
I cannot obey God’s law completely because my heart needs to be changed
My unfeeling heart
I feel my heart of stone needs cleansing
God is the only one who can change my heart, he does it by using Jesus, he makes it possible for me to know What God wants me to do
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me”Psalm 51
Start treating others fair, , take care of widows, and orphans, give up violence. Stop worshipping other things …..all I have left is God Amen 🙏