God Unchanging
Times have changed.
Examples of changes abound, but consider the story recounted in the New York Times at the beginning of the 20th century. It seems John Fisher—“young, debonair, and high-collared”—got on a train near Atlantic City and spotted Miss Lizzie Clark, described as “a demure maid” who looked older than her 15 years. The newspaper account read this way:
Miss Clark was standing on the platform. He thought she smiled. She got on the car and took the front seat. He beat a ragtime refrain. Then he ran his hand through his hair, brushed two specks from his coat, smiled a pensive smile, and took the seat beside Miss Clark and remarked in feeling tones “that it looked like rain.”
Hardly were the words uttered when the conductor bore down, attracted by the girl’s signals of distress.
Fisher was removed from the train, arrested, and sentenced to 60 days in jail. The charge? Flirting. Our culture has indeed changed.
When counselees come to us for help, some may be struggling with cultural changes and the implications of those changes on their lives, perhaps asking, “help me think about how to respond to a family member who…”
But usually when a counselee seeks our help, they will generally be wrestling with changes that have dramatically entered their lives and they are looking for courage, strength, and stability. Perhaps they have received a medical diagnosis that irrevocably changed their lives. Or maybe a loved one has died, or divorce papers were served against them, or they have lost a job, or a neighbor is spreading untrue rumors about them.
How will we help them? We want to remind them that on this earth, we will not find permanence and stability in ourselves. We will only find stability in God. He is absolutely, completely, and eternally unchanging in all that He is. The theological word for that truth is “immutable.” The spiritual encouragement from that doctrine is that our counselee’s confidence (and ours) is only found in the unchanging nature of God.
The end of Psalm 102 helps us discover the comfort of God’s immutability.
We Are Ever Changing (Psalm 102:23-24)
We don’t know the author of this Psalm and we don’t know the exact circumstances that provoked him to write the Psalm, but the opening verses make clear that the writer is suffering, and even persecuted. He is distressed (v. 2), his days are shortened (v. 3), his body aches (v. 3b), he has no appetite (v. 4), he has lost considerable weight (v. 5), he is alone (vv. 6-7), and his enemies mock him (vv. 8ff).
As he nears the end of the Psalm he reiterates his suffering. He is weakened in strength (v. 23), suggesting the waning strength at the end of life. He recognizes the shortness and brevity of his life (v. 23b). He considers himself to be in the middle of his life, but his physical suffering threatens to end his life early and he recognizes that he is dependent on God. He cannot control his circumstances (v. 24a).
Isn’t that the heart of our struggles with change? Something has happened that we want to change and we can’t change it. This is our counselee’s trouble: he has a desire and he recognizes that he is incapable of getting what he wants. So he grieves, laments, complains, and struggles spiritually.
His hope is not to change his circumstances. The circumstances likely can’t be changed. We need to remind our counselees that it is the nature of living in this world that circumstances change, that bodies weaken, that death separates, and that hardship is common (2 Corinthians 4:16). His hope is to reorient him to a new desire and affection that is unchanging and satisfying (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
The psalmist helps us help our counselees find an appropriate, unchanging object for our desires.
God’s Power Never Changes (Psalm 102:25-26)
The counselee needs to be reminded of God’s immutability. While it is true to say that “nothing about God ever changes,” the psalmist points to the power of God that doesn’t ever change. That is one hope for the counselee (and us) when our worlds are in constant flux.
The strength that founded the earth and the heavens (v. 25) is unchanging. Thousands of years ago God established and fixed both heaven and earth in place and set the entire universe in motion so all would operate according to His plan and purpose. Since then, He has sustained it all by the simple word of His power (Hebrews 1:3).
The universe itself may change (note v. 26), but the God who created the world has not changed—nothing in Him has diminished in power or deteriorated in ability. He is the same today as He was on the first day of creation.
Said A. W. Pink, “The attributes of God can no more change than deity can cease to be.” That is the hope for our counselee. His circumstances have been dramatically altered from what he intended his life to be. In his discouragement or questioning, he needs to be reminded that these changes have not happened apart from God’s power. Rather, God’s undiminished strength is the only thing that will sustain the counselee in his day of trouble.
God’s Nature Never Changes (Psalm 102:27)
When the psalmist says of God in v. 27, “You are the same,” he more literally says, “You are He.” That is, what God is, God always is. Nothing in His nature evolves, improves, diminishes, or transforms. Luther said, “You ever remain as you are.” What He is, He always has been, and always will be.
The God who made a covenant with Abraham and rescued Lot and brought Israel out of Egypt and spoke through Jeremiah and closed the lion’s mouths that wanted to eat Daniel and stuck Jonah in a fish and blinded Saul and made him Paul and enabled Peter to walk on water (and saved him when he sank) and placed His Son on the cross and resurrected that Son three days later is the same God today. Nothing about Him has changed.
Since this Psalm was written some 3000 years ago, it should be noted that…
God has not grown one day older,
God has neither gained nor lost one morsel of wisdom,
God has not forgotten a single item,
God has not learned even one new fact,
God has not sinned even one time,
God has not made one wrong decision,
God has added no new qualities to His character,
God has not deepened nor lessened His love for man, and
God has not developed His character in any way.
He can’t. He’s God. And He doesn’t change.
The temptation of our counselees when their world is dramatically changed is to think that in some manner God has changed—that when life is “pleasant,” God is loving and kind and that when life is “harsh,” God is vindictive and angry. Our task is to help them remember (like the psalmist is doing for himself) that when life is harsh, God is still good, gracious, and benevolent. His nature has not changed in our hard days. He is not silent, He is not uncaring, and He has not forsaken His children.
God’s Provision Never Changes (Psalm 102:28)
Because God’s years will not come to an end (v. 27), the psalmist is confident that not only will God keep His servants, but also this servant’s children and descendants will be established before the Lord (v. 28). That is, the race of God’s people will continue. He will not be left without followers. And His followers will not be left destitute; His care will continue for His children.
It is fitting that in the last verse the psalmist uses two familial terms to indicate his (and the nation of Israel’s) relationship with God: “children” and “descendants.” God has a progeny and legacy. And He will not abandon them. They are His and they are “established.” They are made permanent. They are ever with Him and kept by Him.
Four Implications of God’s Unchanging Nature
How is the immutability of God helpful to our counselees? What are some implications for our counselees because of God’s unchanging nature?
First, this truth is revealed to us by God to us to demonstrate His dependability. What would happen if God could change for the better? Or the worse? Or in maturity? Only because God is immutable can we have hope (confidence!) in Him. So because all things but God are transitory, we can (and should) exhort our counselees to be vigilant to fix their affections on the unchanging God alone.
Second, we can encourage them to consciously rest in the truth that He is just as relevant to us today as He was to those in the Biblical era. He sustained Israel in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. It is always His nature to provide fatherly care for His people (Matthew 7:7-11). The antidote to our circumstances is not to meditate on what we want changed in our changing world, but to meditate on the unchanging God in our changing world.
Third, while God is unchanging, He does not always act in a time frame that we might expect. So we can exhort our counselees to be patient in all the providences of their lives—especially in those times when they are tempted to distrust Him. What seems to be quietness and inactivity from God does not mean incompetence in God. He is ever-sufficient and we can be sure that at the right time He will act to accomplish His eternal purposes.
Finally, only God is perfect and does not need transformation. However, we are not perfect and thus while we are on this earth we will always need transformation. We can help our counselees identify not what needs changing in their surroundings or circumstances, but what needs changing in their responses and character. We want to help our counselees always strive to be changed into the likeness of Christ.
It is inevitable that our life circumstances will change. Those changes will also often involve difficult situations. But we don’t need to change those situations; we need to trust the unchanging God of our circumstances and work to identify and change (by the Spirit’s strength) our ungodly qualities into Christ-honoring characteristics.