Great Mercy

When you were a child and you disobeyed your parents, did you have a preference as to which parent would punish you? Did you consider that mom is a softie so you’d rather she deal out the punishment? Or that you have your dad wrapped around your finger so you’d prefer that he decided how to punish you? Sometimes we are able to agree, when we are disobedient, that we deserve punishment. But we are wise enough to know that there are different levels of punishment and we typically desire the fate of the more merciful parent. David felt that way when he sinned against God in first Chronicles, chapter 21. This is when David decided to take a census of Israel. Ignoring righteous council, David allowed himself to indulge in his pride, thereby sinning against the Lord. When God gave him a choice of punishment, David replied this way in verse 13 which says:

“David said to Gad, ‘I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into the hands of men.’”

God gave David three choices for his punishment: to experience three years of famine, three months of being swept away before his enemies, or three days of plague in the land as the angel of the Lord ravages every part of Israel. To David, receiving punishment from God was better than falling into the hands of men because he knew that, unlike men, our God is a merciful God. So Israel experienced a great plague. And true to his nature, the Bible explains that, “the Lord saw it and was grieved because of the calamity and said to the angel, ‘Enough! Withdraw your hand.’” So I encourage you to remember we serve a merciful God. He doesn’t take pleasure in punishing us. But just like a parent, he does it for our own good.

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God is holy, righteous, mighty, and sovereign. When we sin against him, often times there is an earthly punishment that follows. But God is also merciful. He doesn’t take pleasure in seeing those he loves; those who have sinned and have repented, suffer his judgement. And in that mercy, God may relent. Like he did with David, God may choose to withdraw his hand. We can’t always count on the mercy of men, but we can always appeal to the mercy of God. So I encourage you to remember the kind of God we serve. Yes, he is holy and sovereign, but he is also compassionate and merciful.

A Shadow

We serve an eternal God. And eternity is a difficult concept for humans to grasp. Each of our lives has a beginning, a middle and an end. We are born, we live and we die. But eternity has no beginning and it has no end. Besides this, as believers, when we consider our life, we also realize that this is his world, and we’re just passing through. This is not our eternal home, heaven is. Even though we get to stay here for about 80 or 90 years if we’re lucky, in reality, we’re strangers here. Our existence is but a shadow. In first Chronicles, king David explains it this way in a prayer to God. In chapter 29, verse 15 he says: 

“We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.”

I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel pretty insignificant. But even if our lives are short, God’s favor rests on us. It rests on us because we are his creation; a creation made in his image. He loves us with a jealous love and lavishes his grace and mercy upon us. So, yes, our lives are short. David compares a human life to a shadow. But God is a gracious God. And while we remain in him, our lives have eternal significance. I hope that encourages you today. And I hope that when you reflect on how short our lives are, you stop to consider how you are living it. Do not spend your days here on earth without purpose. I encourage you to seek out a kingdom purpose. I encourage you to live for Christ.

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In a prayer to God, David says; “We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.” But in fact, we do have hope. Our hope is in Christ; the one who died so that we might live. And as you live, I encourage you to consider how you are living. Do you have a kingdom purpose? Are any of your actions kingdom focused? Or are you just living this life with no consideration for what is to come in your eternal life. I encourage you to really consider how you are spending your life on earth. Because the Bible encourage us to be kingdom minded. It encourages us to store up treasures in heaven. And David reminds us that this isn’t even our home.