God’s Favor and Discipline

“We often learn more of God under the rod that strikes us than under the staff that comforts us.” –Stephen Charnock

More times than just once King David veered off the straight and narrow in his life, and God disciplined him for it, but David expressed: “For his anger is but a moment, and his favor lasts a lifetime” (Psalm 30:5).  In other words, David realized it would be much worse had God left him to his vices, but it was because God favored David that He disciplined him. God chooses to discipline the people that He has a purpose for. Though David was not without sin, he had a general pattern of repenting of his sin to continue being obedient to God, thus living in such a way to bring God glory.  It’s no wonder he was known as “a man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22). May we too be people that recognize the favor of God on our lives through His discipline, so that when He does choose to, we immediately correct course to repent and we have a general pattern of living obediently to Him so that He is brought glory. 

For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child (Hebrews 12:6, NLT).