Tag Archives: mercy

Mini-excursus on Aggressive Mercy: God Seized Lot

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We cannot go without mentioning the amazing, enduring mercy of God in rescuing Lot. Even when the man and his family lingered, the LORD snatched them up and moved them out. God was about to rain down all hell on this city and He graciously lets Lot know so that he and his family can get out of town. And for whatever reason Lot couldn’t get out of bed the next morning. He and his wife and his two daughters lingered. What were they doing? Really?

Here we see the grace of God abound even more. Though they stalled, the LORD stepped in by his angels and snatched up Lot and co. and brought them outside the city (19:16).

And the sweetest part of this event is the parenthetical that Moses does not want us to miss.  The angels snatching up Lot and his family was “the LORD being merciful to him” (v. 16).
And we should note that God still does this. If He had not showed us mercy by stepping in to seize us, we would have never believed in Him.

He Tells Winds Where to Blow, Commands A Fish What to Swallow, and Saves Sinners Who Repent

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The book of Jonah plays an important role in the Minor Prophets. The mercy of the LORD is highlighted as He is eager to relent His judgment towards those who repent. This book appropriately follows the extended vision of the LORD’s kingdom in Obadiah (20-21).

While the book of Jonah has something to say about God’s mercy to Gentiles and the glory of His kindness, it has even more to say about His sovereignty. In fact, the very idea that He shows mercy to Ninevah is the expression of His power to do whatever He wants. He shows mercy to whom He wills because He can. He is that sovereign. He can command the winds, turn Gentile mariners towards Him, appoint a big fish to swallow a man, command that same fish to barf the man up, appoint a plant to grow, appoint a worm to eat that plant, pity lots of cows, and save anybody He wants (including you and me).

He is glorious.

Father, thank You.

Ugliness, Redemption, and Coming to the Mountain

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Isaiah is sweet to me this morning. The prophet begins with so much ugliness. Judah is not in good shape. God’s people are rebellious children. They have despised and rejected the One who has loved them and brought them up. The formerly faithful city has become a whore. What was promising is now demolished. A bright future is now bleak.

But God is rich in mercy. Even in the midst of the ugliness, He gives us the promise of redemption. He tells the sinful people that though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). God will restore Judah. Zion will be redeemed. Moreover, in the latter days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established and exalted above all. And nations shall flow to it, peoples shall come to it to worship the God of Jacob, to know His ways and walk in His paths (Isaiah 2:3). 

I pray for grace to see who we are in this glorious narrative of redemption. We are those drawing near to the mountain. We are the ones from the nations who were separated from the covenants of promise, having no hope in the world. The Americans and the Mili and the Sininkere have that in common, you know? We can only come to the mountain because God is faithful to do what He said He would in Isaiah 1-2. And one day we will know it more real than now.

The Gospel for My Daughter, for me

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Parenting is a wonderful thing. The blessings of fatherhood are manifold. I receive me being a dad as an inexpressible grace from God. I love my daughter, Elizabeth. I am pierced with a mysterious gratitude when I look into her 14 month-old eyes and see her precious smile. The thoughts of her experiencing any kind of harm agitates me. I don’t want my little girl to ever hurt.

And yet, she would be a recipient of divine wrath. She has a sin problem. I do not doubt that her resisting a diaper change from her Mom now will one day be her resisting to trust in Christ. She will, at some point, make a decision that thinks the world has more to offer than Jesus. She will turn from the cross to hold on to her own attempts at morality. She is too much like her Dad (me and Adam). Therefore, she deserves the wrath of God. She is worthy of condemnation. 

This is one thing to say of yourself, “I deserve wrath…” It is an entirely different thing to say of your daughter. As I look into her face I can only beg God for mercy on her and not, for even an instance, think that my parenting skills can make her into a new creation. Only God can do that and so I pray He keep her from evil, that she repent and believe the gospel. Only God can do that. He would be right and good to condemn my daughter because of her inevitable sins. She has no right to escape that wrath. Neither do I. But God had mercy. And I know that I deserve wrath, and by His mercy I can say, “… but thank You Jesus.”

May our sons and daughters one day sing that song, “… but thank You Jesus!”

Sovereign and Righteous: Job, 10

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Chapters 34 and 35 continue Elihu’s indictment of Job. Job has delcared his rights before God, rather than seek His mercy. Elihu repeats Job’s error to be clear…

For Job has said, “I am in the right, and God has taken away my right…” (34:5).

Job has charged God with injustice–that although He is sovereign, God has treated Him unfairly. But Elihu proclaims:

… the Almighty will not pervert justice (34:12)

The Lord is both righteous and mighty (34:17). The Sovereign over the universe and every person’s heart is a God that will never ever do wrong. 

How shall I declare my rights before a God like that? Any attempt to justify myself is an insult of His character. For He is righteously sovereign. He can do whatever He wants anytime He wants wherever He wants. And whatever that is will always be right. 

Oh, how this propels us to seek His mercy!  And it must be asked, “how shall I receive mercy and God’s righteousness be vindicated?” Well, there is the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ! And there is this cross…