Psalm 48
In your life, can you identify the things that are permanent and the things that are perishable? Can you distinguish between the two? If not, you may be in for a rough ride. When we start treating perishable things as if they’re permanent, it becomes very difficult to part with them when a crisis arises. But the author of this psalm gives us a clue as to what is permanent: “For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.” (vs 14)
Photo © Unsplash/Aditya Joshi
God is ours forever and ever. How many things in this life can you say that about? Actually, when you think about it, nothing. A landowner can’t say, “This land will be mine forever.” A king can’t say, “I will have this crown forever.” An employee can’t say, “I will hold this job forever.” Sooner or later in this world where everything is transient, all of these things will change hands. Everybody alive on the planet today will one day be dust—and even the graves we occupy won’t be ours forever!
But there is one sure thing. There is one permanent feature of the Christian life, and that is God. He truly is ours forever, and Paul says that not even death itself can separate us from Him (Rom 8:38-39). He is the one constant in the universe, the one unchanging surety. Everything else is perishable. Everything else will go as surely as it came.
Photo © Unsplash/Casey Botticello
Mark Lowry, a Christian comedian, once said that his favorite Bible verse was this: “And it came to pass…” (Of course, that’s where he stopped, not bothering to finish the verse.) It came to pass. It didn’t come to stay. “Wherever you are on that journey of life,” he said, “hold on, it will pass. Did you have a bad year last year? Hold on, it’ll pass. Did you have a good year last year? Hold on, it’ll pass.”
If there’s anything we have learned in the last couple of weeks, it’s how fleeting and fickle our everyday lives are. Our normal and comfortable routines can change literally overnight. And ultimately, everything we know now will pass… except one thing. This God is our God for ever and ever. In our lives, He is the only permanent fixture.