THE UNCHANGING GOD
Psalm 102
“For I eat ashes as my food and mingle my drink with tears because of your great wrath, for you have taken me up and thrown me aside. My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.”
When we are in the throes of distress everything becomes heightened: a simple pain is a cancer gnawing away at your body; the loss of a job means you no longer can put food on the table; the rejection of a woman means you will be alone forever. On top of that, well-meaning advice feels like criticism, help extended feels like pity and the efforts of those around you to care for you feels like you are an unbearable burden. Even God feels cold and uncaring.
The change in the Psalmist comes when he looks into the Scriptures and sees the unchanging God. “But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations. You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her; the appointed time has come.”
When our circumstances change it is easy to think that everything has changed, including God. We are always told “past performance is not indicative of future results” but this is not true of God. Paul, in 2 Timothy 2:13, tells us “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
“They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”