More faithful than family

 This week's verses are Psalm 27:7-10:

Hear me, O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
My heart tells me to pray to you,
and I do pray to you, O Lord.
Do not reject me.
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
Even if my father and mother abandoned me,
the Lord would take me in.

 This is a continuation of the psalm from last week, where King David was praising God for his comprehensive protection. And that alone would be worth praising God for, but here he also praises God's grace and faithfulness.

King David had some sin issues. Even after knowing God for a long time, he had issues. But when he would catch his mistake, he would return to God, and that is part of how he got his reputation for being a great man.

In these verses, David begs for mercy, knowing he deserves to be sent away. He has made God angry. He has not lived the way he was supposed to be living. But he also has no hope for a good outcome that doesn't depend on God. God is his only hope. God is his deliverer. His rescue squad. His fixer. His paramedic chopper.

And God is not just able to get him out of physical trouble. God also vindicates him, releasing him from condemnation, and going after his enemies. He is busted out of jail and all charges are dropped.

David says that even if his father and mother abandoned him, God would take him in. In the ancient near east, family and tribe were everything. They were the first priority and the last resort. To be rejected by your own family meant you were irredeemable. You would have exhausted every last possible source of support that you had. You had to really try to be that bad of a person. But David says that even then, God would take him in. That's a mind-blowing level of faithfulness.

If you ever find yourself worrying that you've gone too far, that you might have crossed a line where God would not let you come back no matter how sorry you are, read these verses. Even after the evil things King David did, God did not reject him or send him away. He only had to come back and ask for things to be made right, and God forgave and welcomed him.

If there are things that you have done (or not done) that weigh on you, take some time to approach God with them the way David did. Ask to be taken in, and for the charges to be dropped. Let God prove himself to be more faithful than your closest family. He is that good!