September 15 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Psalm 103:12–18

Devotional

In life there are many matters of which we must say they are not as good as we expected them to be. We often hear it said, “He is not as I had expected him to be.” Or, “That did not turn out as I had desired.” Even a child of God can disappoint others. He can disappoint people of the world, because the world expects God’s children to be perfect. But he can also disappoint fellow Christians. The more God’s children deal with one another, the more they see their mutual weaknesses and shortcomings, and the clearer it becomes that pride and conceit have not yet disappeared from the hidden corners of their heart.

But most of all a child of God is disappointed in himself. The closer he digs to the bottom of his heart, the more abominations he finds. That counts even for the holiest one, or rather it is precisely the holiest one who is most disappointed with himself. His disappointment can be so severe that at times he even wonders if the beginning of a new life has ever been laid in his heart. He is so bitterly disappointed with himself, that he cannot think that God would ever have dealings with him again.

But the Lord is never disappointed in His child. That is because He knoweth his frame. When He drew him out of darkness, and when he was filled with the holiest of intentions, even then the Lord knew how evil he still was and would remain in himself. He knew that David would suffer a great fall. He knew that Peter would deny Him. He knew that nothing good would ever come forth from His people. God’s child can, therefore, never disappoint Him. The Lord knows His child. He knows him before he even knows himself. If that were not true, he would disappoint God every day again. Then the Lord would become weary of him and sever the ties with him. After all, he has not deserved anything else.

Imagine if God had started a relationship with His child on the condition that he would not disappoint Him. With first love the child thinks that he will never do anything against His Father’s will, because he still has such an ardent desire to live according to all of His commandments. He does not choose to obey some of the commandments, but all of them. The child of God can say with Peter, “I will lay down my life for thy sake” (John 13:37). But the child disappoints himself so very much. There is still so much self-love and going astray from the Lord. Much wickedness remains at the bottom of his existence. If being a child of God would be dependent on conditions to be fulfilled, then he would sin himself out of this communion a thousand times. But the Lord knows His child. He can never disappoint God because He knoweth his frame.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.