Gracious God Who Changes Not

O Thou God Who Changest Not, Who our sinful soul has bought,

We find Thee our surest Friend, Who is with us to the end,

We find Thee our steadfast Guide, Whose light to us will never hide,

O Thou God always the same, Who Changest Not is Thy great Name,

Thee we praise with hearts of Joy, With praise to Thee our tongues employ.

(Sung to: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing)

Everything seems to change.  My beloved bride reminds me that isn’t so.  The arrangement of our living room has not changed in 15 years she readily points out.  So, almost everything changes.  That is safe and true.  There is something, however, that is more surely not going to change than the arrangement of our living room; that is God.

God employs the phrase, “For I am the LORD, I do not change” as an assurance to Malachi of both the goodness and severity of His promises.  I have heard parents promise their ill behaved children, “One more time and you’re going to get it.”  The child has figured out that “It” is another warning.  God is reminding Israel that “it” is judgment for sin and blessing for obedience.  He has never failed to keep either promise.

There is certainly something to be said for certainty.  We live in an uncertain world.  Promises made by employers to employees are kept as long as the employer wishes to keep them.  Then they are abandoned.  Warranties on products have lots of fine print.  “But that is not covered and since that was the problem that led to the covered problem, well, then the covered problem is not covered either.  Sorry.”  Between forty and fifty per cent of first time marriages fail.  “Til death do us part” is not a guarantee that couples will make it to their 5^th anniversary let alone death.  That is the way things are in the world. 

Things with God are not that way.  God stands by His word.  Every promise He made He will keep.  He is the God Who Changest Not.  Paul told Titus to remind the people in His church that God cannot lie.  The author of Hebrews reminded his readers that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever”.  The psalmist declared, “Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven”.  Those are things that change not.  What has God promised us that we can depend on?  That’s simple: everything that He has promised us.  Praise God for His steadfastness.  Praise Him that He is the God Who Changest Not. 

 

 

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