Scripture: Hosea 14:9

Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them. 

Scripture Commentary: Walk in the ways of the Lord

The ways of the Lord are right.  God’s love and forgiveness comes at the price of faithfulness. It is a worthy price for eternal love and eternal life. God shows mercy in his dealings with Hosea. Hosea opens an appeal to listen, learn, and benefit from God’s Word. Are you listening? Are you open to learning from God?

When your will is weak, God will give you strength. When you are confused or your conscience is burdened with guilt, remember that God loves you. He cares for you continually. His compassion never fails. When your shortcomings and awareness of your sins surmount you , God can lift you out.

God is compassionate; He wants to forgive you

When friends and family desert you, co-workers don’t understand you, and the world pressures you to stumble off the path to righteousness, God can set you straight. Even when you are tired of being good, God remains compassionate. He wants to forgive you.

Forgiveness is the key word. When God forgives you, he judges your sin but not you as a sinner.  He shows mercy to you, and you have the opportunity to start anew with a clean slate.

If you are lost, find your way by turning from sin and following God.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hosea Chapter 14

Other Posts from Hosea:
Return to God and Ask His Forgiveness
Return To the Lord Your God
The Rebellious Will Stumble

Scripture: Hosea 14: 1-2,4

Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall!(1) Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips.”(2) “I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them.”(4)

Scripture Commentary: Our only hope is in God’s mercy – we cannot save ourselves

God punished Israel for its gross repeated violations of his law, but he did so with a heavy heart. God wanted to restore the nation and make it prosper. The people could return to God by asking him to forgive their sins. The same is true for us. Return to God.  We can pray Hosea’s prayer and know our sins are forgiven because Christ died for them on the cross.

Forgiveness begins when we see the destructiveness of sin and the futility of life without God. Then we must admit we cannot save ourselves; our only hope is in God’s mercy. When we request forgiveness, we must recognize that we do not deserve it and therefore cannot demand it. Our appeal must be for God’s love and mercy, not for His justice.

Although we cannot demand forgiveness, we can be confident that we have received it because God is gracious and loving and wants to restore us to Himself just as He wanted to restore Israel.

God never fails!

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hosea Chapter 14

Scripture: Hosea 14: 1-3

O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Assh’-us shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

Scripture Commentary: Return to God who cares for your and loves you continually

Return to God by asking for forgiveness of your sins. This solution worked in the time of Hosea, and it works today. Forgiveness begins with the destruction of sin. Once you understand the futility of life without God you become eligible for forgiveness.

We cannot save ourselves; our only hope is God’s mercy. Requesting forgiveness means recognizing that we do not deserve it and therefore cannot demand it.  Our appeal must be for God’s love and mercy, not for his justice. Although we cannot demand forgiveness, we can confidently receive it.

God is gracious and loving, and wants to restore us to himself because he loves us. When our will is weak, when our thinking is confused, and when our conscience is burdened with a load of guilt, we must remember that God cares for us continually; his compassion never fails.

When we can’t see the way or hear God’s voice; when we lack courage to go on, God’s compassion never fails. We will fail him, but his love will never fail us.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hosea Chapter 14

Scripture: Hosea 14:9

Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.

Scripture Commentary:

Hosea closes with an appeal to listen and learn from God’s word. To those receiving the Lord’s message through Hosea, this meant the difference between life and death.

God’s concern for justice can be seen in his dealings with Hosea. He required faithfulness and a love that offered forgiveness from Hosea. For you, the reader of the book of Hosea, the choice is similar. Either listen to the book’s message and follow God’s ways, or refuse to walk along the Lord’s path.

We can err by forgetting God’s love and feeling like our sins are hopeless. We can err by forgetting his wrath against our sins and ignorantly believe he will accept us no matter how we act. People who insist on following their own direction without God’s guidance are in “deep darkness, they do not know what makes them stumble.” If you are lost you can find the way by turning from your sin and following God.

Forgiveness is a key word. When God forgives us he judges the sin but shows mercy on the sinner. We should never be afraid to come to God for a clean slate. Remember, we must forgive others before we can ask for forgiveness.

Read the Entire Chapter:
Hosea Chapter 14