Psalm 135:14 (ESV)

“For the Lord will vindicate His people and have compassion on His servants.”

It’s always good to know that God looks out for His own. He is a loving and caring God who takes care of those who seek Him. The Lord will always treat the church the same throughout the course of time. It is up to His followers to do the same.

To vindicate means to make something right. In some translations, it means to judge. Sometimes people get offended by the word judge. But in this context, God is interposing on His people’s behalf by His judgments. In other words, He is working in our favor. However, that only comes to fruition if we are already working in His favor.

Our relationship with God works both ways. God loves us and we love Him. There’s no taking from God and not giving anything back. That would be a horrible, almost borderline abusive relationship. We would be terrible friends if our friends did something for us and we never do anything in return. It’s the same with how we treat the Lord.

Followers of Christ should praise Him and be thankful for what He has done. That way, God’s name endures forever through our worship. In return, God will show mercy to us. He delights in our goodness. We’re not called to be lazy Christians who soak up God’s grace and mercy without displaying anything in return. We are called to walk in His ways and glorify Him in whatever we do. That’s what makes the relationship genuine.

In reality, we deserve nothing. Because of our sin, we should be deemed worthless in the eyes of the Lord. But God is so compassionate and loving, that He forgives us of our sins. He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross to save us from our trespasses and wrongdoing. That is how we can experience His love forever. He died and rose again to restore the fellowship that we broke, so that we may be in relationship with Him and live eternally in paradise.

This week, pray about how you want to return God’s favor. Seek Him and glorify Him in all of your ways, so that you may receive His love and mercy.