Faithful Heart
God is faithful even when we fall short. He fulfilled His own promise to take us by the hand and help make a way to right relationship with Him. Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath that we deserved.
“King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king.” 1 Kings 11:1-43
God’s original plan is to bless and be with His people. God richly blessed Solomon with everything a person could desire. Yet, Solomon allowed lust and temptation to turn his heart from God. Why? Why would the person who had been given everything not live with a thankful and faithful heart?
Are we unlike Solomon? Do we not face temptation every day, turn from God, and pursue our own fleshly desires? You might not be chasing relationships all over town, but temptation is always knocking at your door. We live in a consumer world that very subtly seeks to capture your heart. Every time we worship anything other than God we are committing the same sins as Solomon.
It might not seem overtly evil when you work long hours over reading the Bible, praying, praising, or pleasing God; you may be worshipping others things over your Maker. It may not seem unfaithful at the time, but how does God like it when you long for comfort or pleasure over serving God’s purposes? It is really easy to open the door to the enemy and allow other things to entice a piece of our hearts. God calls us to be faithful and have full devotion. What tempts you most? What sin seduces you? Where have you turned from God? It is important to remember God is not condemning you when you feel conviction. He is calling you back to where you belong.
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” Psalms 2:1-12
David was not perfect and he certainly was not without sin. He was a murderer and an adulterer, but he was not an idolater. Something was different about how David dealt with sin and he shared an insight in this song. He said blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Consider when you need refuge. You do not need refuge when it is sunny and seventy degrees outside. You do not need refuge when the seas of life are calm. You need refuge when you are in the middle of a storm and when the full consequences of sin are setting in. David said turn to God all the time. Turn to Him when it is smooth sailing and turn to Him when you cannot see beyond the waves.
God’s desire is relationship with right understanding. He is God and we are not. He is our Maker and our Father. We are made to reflect and revere Him. He is the one who rules and we are the ones who serve. The trouble with temptation is it wants to get you to elevate you or your desires above God’s desires. Where is your heart today? Do you have any competing desires or sins seducing you?
God is not emotionless. When we disobey He is angry. He is just and righteous. He cannot bless disobedience. There is a penalty owed. How does honor God or help advance the kingdom of his reign when we disobey? Some people get a skewed perspective about Jesus thinking He is only graceful rainbows and healing lollipops, but Jesus speaks in grace and truth. Grace meets you where you are, truth tells you to turn to, trust in, and tremble before God.
“How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you. “You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming down from Lebanon.” Song of Songs 4:1-15
It is important to always return to God’s original design. God designed us to live in relationship one on one. His original design was one man one woman. Solomon added three zeros to God’s math and had a thousand wives. Is there any wonder why he was unfaithful? We are not meant to add to God’s words or His ways.
Look at what love should produce. Wisdom says holy love is a fountain of life that leads to knowing you are loved and letting love flow through you. Holy love does not look at people like possessions nor lust after other objects with a deficit mindset. Holy love lifts us up and helps us see God in each other. Holy love brings wholeness. Holy love speaks truth and says you are beautiful as you are. Have you stopped to hear God speak the truth that you are His and He sees you as beautiful? Even saying those words can make us blush but they are true.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut…The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: Instruction will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way…Hear me, you who know what is right…Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults. Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength! Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads…you forget the Lord your Maker…you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? This is what your Sovereign Lord says, your God, who defends his people: “See, I have taken out of your hand the cup that made you stagger” Isaiah 51:1-22
God said listen to my voice, and you will hear the song of salvation. He said you will see that I have a plan of redemption. God knows that we could not make a way on our own. He knows we all fall short so he promises to have someone drink his own cup of wrath, the cup that we deserve because of our sin, on our behalf. In the midst of our rebellion and separation, God stepped in. He gives us hope and promises to make a way for us to return to right relationship with Him. Is it not amazing that our God does not compromise justice yet is always compassionate? What kind of love overlooks offense and opens the door to healing forgiveness even when we have been disobedient?
God gives a couple warnings along the way. He said do not fear man or forget your Maker? Why? If we trace the root of our original disobedience or the seduction that led to sin we will find that fear and forgetting are the two main culprits. How are you feeling? What fears are on your heart? Where have you been focused on things other than God and forgotten how much God loves you?
“Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising…the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Crucify Him! They shouted. The soldiers led Jesus away…They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And when they had mocked him…they led him out to crucify him. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha…And they crucified him. It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews. They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. At noon, darkness came over the whole land…at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.“ Mark 15:2-46
Jesus quotes Psalm 22 as He hung on the cross. What else does it say in psalm 22? “You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him…All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!” The rest of the psalm really changes our perspective on what Jesus said and did. He declared it is finished. He said the price has been paid, the penalty served, and the sentence commuted.
What Solomon could not do, Jesus did perfectly. Solomon’s heart slowly drifted from full devotion into compromise, but Jesus was obedient to death on a cross for the joy set before Him. The progression through these passages is remarkable. We begin with a king whose disobedience brings anger, we hear David call us to take refuge in God’s Son, we see Isaiah promise that God Himself will remove the cup of wrath, and then we stand at Golgotha where Jesus willingly drinks that cup for us.
God remained faithful even when His people were not. He fulfilled His own promise, satisfying both His perfect justice and His perfect love. He tore the curtain and mends our hearts. Never forget God’s love nor what love can do in your life. For God so loved the world that He sent His Son for you.
The choice is yours. Will you be like Solomon who served himself or like King Jesus who chose to become a servant of all? Will you listen to Jesus’ words and follow Him with an undivided heart? Will you be honest about any fears or competing desires pulling you away from God? Will you repent and turn to God like David? Will you continue carrying the weight of guilt that Jesus already carried, or will you take refuge in the Son who paid your debt in full?
Today, hear His voice. He calls you beautiful, beloved, and born again. Turn from the idols that promise life but leave an empty legacy. Remember your Maker, receive His grace, and walk in joyful obedience. The King who wore a crown of thorns now reigns forever because He drank the cup of wrath for you and crowns you with the joy of your salvation.