Psalm 78:37 speaks honestly: “For their heart was not right with him, neither were they stedfast in his covenant.” This verse describes Israel’s history, but it also quietly names something in us: we are not naturally loyal to God. Our affections drift, our promises fade, and we often find ourselves living more by convenience than by covenant. The psalm is not simply condemning; it is revealing the gap between God’s faithfulness and our inconsistency. When we see that gap, we are invited not to despair, but to bring our disordered hearts into the light of God’s unchanging love.
One of the striking things about Psalm 78 is that, alongside Israel’s repeated disloyalty, God’s steadfast mercy keeps shining through. He judges, yes, but He also forgives, restores, and begins again with His people. This pattern prepares us to understand the gospel: our hearts fail, but God’s heart does not. Where Israel broke the covenant again and again, Christ came as the true and faithful Israel, the perfectly loyal Son who never turned aside from the Father’s will. On the cross, Jesus bore the weight of our unfaithfulness so that, in Him, we might be counted faithful and made new from the inside out.
Because of Jesus, God does not wait for you to become perfectly steadfast before He welcomes you. He meets you in your divided heart and offers you a new one, as promised in the new covenant—a heart softened by grace and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Loyalty to God is not first a matter of trying harder, but of trusting deeper in Christ’s finished work. As you look to Him, your love is slowly re-ordered, and faithfulness begins to grow where self-will once ruled. Step by step, the Spirit teaches you to say yes to God when it is costly, and to stay when your old habits tell you to run.
So when you notice how unstable your devotion can be, do not hide it from the Lord or pretend it is otherwise. Bring your inconsistent loves and broken promises to the Savior who already knows them and has already carried them to the cross. Ask Him to make your heart “right with Him,” not by your own strength, but by His grace shaping your desires and decisions. Trust that the same Christ who saved you will also sustain you, even on the days your loyalty feels weak and fragile. Take courage: His covenant love is steadfast, and in His faithful embrace, He will patiently teach your wandering heart to become steadfast in return.