When we worship the Lord, we are renewing the covenant with Him. He knows our frailty, and how easily we flatter ourselves, and so He seeks to bring us up short – every week. But we might mistake this language. We might begin to assume that God expects us to be constantly and consistently defeated. But this is not another way of inculcating what is sometimes called “worm theology.” The language of covenant renewal does not presuppose weekly apostasy.
You are the Lord’s congregation. He loves You and has purchased You for Himself. You have stumbled at places, and have confessed your sin, but you have not departed from the living God. You are here, and you should be encouraged that you are here.
The guiding image of this covenant renewal should not be the image projected by an unfaithful husband returning in repentance to his wife – although that is also a covenant renewal. Rather, the norm should be the image of a faithful husband returning in the evening after a hard day of work, in order to sit down at the table with his family. Covenants do need to be renewed after corruptions and apostasies, but they also need to be renewed after time has passed, and work is completed. For those of you dealing with serious sin, or temptations to it, this is a covenant renewal service in the one sense. Bur for those of you who have walked faithfully with the Lord this week, it is just as much a renewal. We need this, whatever our position, whatever our station, whatever our history.
We need Him if we have fallen. We need Him if we have not. We are to worship Him if we have fallen. We are to worship Him if we have not. We are cast ourselves upon Him if we have been unrighteous. We are to cast ourselves upon Him if we have be righteous. We are here to renew our covenant with God, and this is our deepest duty, and our deepest need. It is never optional.