We are prone to wander. Psalm 78 shows that reality generation after generation: God's people knew His Word, experienced His faithfulness, and still turned away from Him. But while His people were not steadfast, God remained unchanged. He was compassionate. He remembered that they were flesh. He kept His promises. And rather than simply leaving His people to their own way, He corrected them and drew them back to Himself.
That is part of the goodness of God's chastening. Proverbs 3 tells us, “For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth,” and Hebrews 12 brings that same truth to struggling believers. God loves His children too much to simply leave them to wander. Sometimes His correction is punishment; sometimes it is instruction. But through it, a good and faithful Father teaches His children again to trust His Word, His wisdom, His direction—and ultimately, to trust Him.
So the question is not simply, Does God love me? He has already demonstrated His love, ultimately in giving His Son for sinners. The question the sermon presses upon us is, Do we love Him? Will we hear His Word, trust Him, and obey Him? And when He corrects us, can we recognize His goodness in refusing to leave us to our own way—and thank Him for drawing us back to Himself?
If you have ever struggled to understand God's correction or to see His goodness in it, hear the complete sermon as Pastor Alex follows this truth through Psalm 78, Proverbs 3, and Hebrews 12 and considers what the chastening of a loving Father teaches us about the God we are called to trust.