[[-SOAP HUB]] | [[Psalm 89]] | [[-Psalm Overview]] ## Title: The Loving Discipline of the Lord ## Scripture: (Psalm 89:32–33) “I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club, their sin by inflicting them with bruises. But I will not remove my loyal love from him nor be unfaithful to my promise.” (NET) ## Observation: Some people think that a perfectly loving parent is a parent who never disciplines their children. They believe a perfectly loving parent is always giving, always lenient, and never has boundaries. However, anyone who has been a parent for longer than five minutes knows this is not the case. Sometimes a loving parent will discipline their child out of the overflow of their love for their child. For example, if a child really wants to walk off a cliff to see what it feels like to fly, a loving parent will do everything in their power to stop that child from doing so. They will risk hurting their child’s feelings in order to keep them safe. A parent will also establish boundaries and consequences in order to help the child learn how to be safe and how to treat their neighbor with grace. It is out of their love for their child that they will follow through on those proper consequences so lessons can be learned. This is the same with our Heavenly Father. God gets no pleasure out of our pain. His joy comes from watching us grow. Therefore, He will establish boundaries that teach lessons so we can mature. ## Application: See everything through the lens of coming from a God who loves us more than we can imagine. ## Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for loving us with an everlasting love.