Psalms 84-90: Where is Your Love

In Psalms 89, the psalmist asks

'O Lord, where is your former great love,
which in your faithfulness you swore to David? - Ps 89:49

The psalmist recalls the time when God spoke to his people, when he said of David

I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail.
I will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure. - Ps.89:28-29 NIV

But that covenant had two sides.  It's easy to hold God to his promises, while we hope to skate by, avoiding the requirements on the other side.
 
"If his sons forsake my law and do not follow my statutes,
if they violate my decrees and fail to keep my commands,
I will punish their sin with the rod, their iniquity with flogging;
but I will not take my love from him, nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.
I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered. - Ps. 89:30-34 NIV

God promises that he will not take his love away, but if we look at our circumstances as proof of his great love, we will often misinterpret it.  Just because our circumstances are less than ideal, or even at times, life threatening, it does not mean God does not love us.  God promised to punish us for our sins, just as he promised to love us.  To think we can sin and be protected from the consequences is foolhardy. 

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:22-23 NIV

When we sin, we suffer, but God does not stop loving us.