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Excerpt from:

101 Most Powerful Promises
of the Bible

 

Case Dismissed

Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
—Isaiah 55:7

If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of God’s mercy and compassion—and you have, whether you realize it or not—you know what an awesome gift that can be. We most keenly experience these qualities when we deserve them the least, when we’ve committed some egregious sin that we know warrants severe punishment. God realizes that we’ve done such a fine job of punishing ourselves that he says, “Enough. No more punishment. Not from me—and not from yourself. It’s over.”  

We often see human examples of this in the courtroom, of all places. A judge presiding over the case of a child killed in a car accident refuses to continue with the prosecution of the parents. She’s within her legal rights to pursue the charges, because the parents failed to secure the child properly in her car seat. But they’re good parents; they thought the strap was fastened; they had no history of neglect; they are clearly distraught. She announces her ruling: “The parents have suffered enough. All charges are dropped. Case dismissed.”

 That’s where the similarity between human and divine mercy ends, though. The judge goes on to the next case. God, however, stays with the parents, comforting them, consoling them—and eventually, over time, turning their mourning into joy.

The Bible has much to say about God’s mercy It never fails; it is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Ps. 103:17, nkjv). What’s more, God is “rich in mercy” (Eph. 2:4), and that means he has plenty to give away. And because it is an aspect of his love, he wants to extend it to us. He decides “on whom he will have mercy...and compassion” (Ex. 33:19), but because these attributes flow from his goodness and love, we have the confidence that he will offer them to those who turn their hearts toward him.

Look at some biblical examples of God’s mercy. Back when he was known as Saul, the Apostle Paul certainly deserved God’s wrath. He thought he was doing the right thing by persecuting the Jewish followers of Christ, but God set him straight. It was Jesus—God himself—whom Paul was persecuting (Acts 9:4-5). Yet God had mercy on him and eventually transformed him into a powerful leader in the early church.

And long before Paul, King David got himself into such a royal mess that God sent a prophet to set him straight (see 2 Samuel 11-12). Nathan made it clear that by committing adultery with Bathsheba, impregnating her, and sending her husband to his death, David had displeased God, to put it mildly David suffered the consequences—his first child by Bathsheba died—but God soon after blessed them with another child and continued to bless David throughout his reign.

Even if we had no other reason to fall on our knees in gratitude before the Most High God, the promise of his mercy and compassion alone would be enough. When we stop and think of all the times he probably should have locked us away, covered us with boils, or otherwise struck us down because of our sin and rebellion, we have to marvel at the utter kindness of God. We deserve so much worse than we ever get. We are a fortunate people indeed.

Lord, I am so grateful to you for the many times you have dealt with me in a merciful way. I know I have deserved your divine retribution and wrath, and yet you have shown me your Love and kindness and goodness instead. Thank you for never giving me what I deserve.

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© 2004 Marcia Ford . All rights reserved.

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