Bible Meditation: Psalm 119:8
Psalm 119:8—“I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!”
In Hebrews 13:5, we read “For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” That is a promise from God that we should hold onto. The problem is not, and never has been, that God has forsaken us; the problem is, we have forsaken Him by NOT keeping His “statutes.” We are human; we are flesh. Sometimes it does feel like the Lord has forsaken us. That is one reason why He wrote Hebrews 13:5, in order to remind us that He never will.
Of course, He wants us to walk in His ways and follow His commandments. None of us do that perfectly, and, as a result, sometimes the consequences of our actions lead to trouble, or even disaster. If we go somewhere God cannot go, He will not follow us and we are on our own. When we return to Him, He is there waiting for us, as the father waited for his prodigal son in Luke 15.
Some people utterly forsake God; that is what is happening in America and most places in the world today. But He will never utterly forsake us, and He will be there if only we will return in humble repentance. Oh, that America would hasten to do that!
But we do have a responsibility to “keep [His] statutes” and we can’t be surprised at the negative consequences that ensue when we don’t. He has warned us.