100 Days with David 2025 Day 77: If the Lord’s favor “isn’t working” for you, it’s because of user error.

“O God, You have cast us off; You have broken us down; You have been displeased; Oh, restore us again! You have made the earth tremble; You have broken it; Heal its breaches, for it is shaking. You have shown Your people hard things; You have made us drink the wine of confusion.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭60:1-3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you ever known people who made a bold proclamation concerning the ineffectiveness of a particular diet, and yet you knew for a fact that they were not following the diet? Let’s take a moment and just think on that.

Now, we know the truth: People are all the time blaming other things for why they can’t improve the fitness of their physical body. Exercise equipment is deemed as totally ineffective; the latest diet craze is baloney (excuse the pun), etc. But the real problem is found in an “intervening variable.” Indeed, the fault rested with the user of the diet, or the user of the exercise equipment, or the user of the fitness breakthrough de jour.

Someone once said, “no pain, no gain.” But, for many people, having to experience any discomfort should be avoided at all cost. So, to avoid having to change anything they are doing to get what they purport to desire, they place all the onus for failure on something outside of their control. That way, personal responsibility is dodged. Sadly, these folks may spend years searching for the “magic wand of change,” discovering too late, that it doesn’t exist.

Now, those of you who are familiar with modern computer technology, just put a hand in my direction while I vent.

Have you ever slammed your hand on the table beside a computer and declared that it was “stupid,” only to discover a little later that perhaps the “stupidity,” belonged closer to home?

Sadly, the tendency for us to want to declare things, and even people, as being “ineffective,” rather than seeing our own failure to commit ourselves to a process, or to learn what we need to know, or to make the needed changes, etc., does not stop short of our relationship with God.

Now, I’m nobody’s judge, but you know, what you know, and there have been times I have seen people accuse God over something (something that was going wrong, or something that wasn’t the way they wanted it, etc. ), and I knew full well that they, themselves, were the guilty party (guilty in terms of the results they were seeing). Again, it wasn’t God‘s fault; it was user error.

In the Bible, we find the Lord often instructing His people in righteousness, instructing His people in how things work in a relationship with Him.

“Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Time and again, the Lord offered to get His people out of trouble, while instructing them as to how they had come to be out of favor, as to what had gotten them in their current predicament.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59:1-4‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Still, many people would rather accuse God of having “arms too short” to reach them, or not caring for them, or not hearing them, etc., than to admit that their disobedience has gotten them into their current pickle.

In today’s portion from David’s psalms, we see David praying urgently to the Lord for the restoration of His favor. We see basically the same prayer in Psalms 108. Rather than make accusations about the Lord’s “inadequacies,” David speaks of the Lord‘s promises, asking Him to restore favor to His children. David knew that whatever was wrong, it wasn’t the Lord’s fault.

Now, we’ve all ended up in situations, circumstances, and so on, that deep down inside, we knew we had a large part in bringing it to pass. We must avoid placing blame anywhere else; and especially, not to indict the Lord!

The good news is: Even when we are in a stew of our own making, the Lord will hear and help if we approach Him with humility and repentance, asking Him to restore His favor toward us.

Finally, you may be wondering why we still have a part in receiving God’s favor, given that the perfect sacrifice, and finished work, of Jesus Christ has bought us our salvation.

Here it is: Salvation is a gift from God. But make no mistake, even though God has given us access to His favor, continuing to walk in disobedience to God‘s word and the leading of his Holy Spirit, brings big trouble and allows the enemy to devour your stuff!

For today let us know and understand what David knew:

If the Lord’s favor “isn’t working” for you, it’s because of user error.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!