Foreknowledge of God's Mercy

“And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I [am] the LORD their God.” (Le 26:44 AV)

So much for covenant theology.  But I digress.  The promise to Israel here is comforting.  Not just for them, but for anyone who has a relationship with the Father.  God may have to correct, but He will not utterly cast off.  God may have to chasten, but He will not destroy.  Why would He?  To what end?  If we are adopted into the family of God, what would motivate a loving God to cease His filial relationship with His children?  Nothing!  As Paul said, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 8:39 AV) The verse above is a comfort that no matter how much we mess up, the love of God remains constant.  He will never leave nor forsake.  He will not destroy what cost Him His Son to attain.  We are secure because God is a God of mercy.

I know I have mentioned this before, but in my life, these events are very profound.  As a pastor, I have helped many families with wayward children.  Some cases were very extreme.  There was teen pregnancy, drug use, crime, and worse.  What amazed me was watching parents as they loved their children in spite of what they had done.  Substance abuse is perhaps the hardest of sins to deal with.  Substance abuse involves far more than using.  It involves deception, victimization of those closest to you, and breaking serious laws.  It becomes a pattern.  Mom and Dad bail them out, clean them up, and put them on the right path only to see them fall right back into it.  This happens over years.  Soon, those closest to the user become resentful.  It is my experience that at least one parent never loses hope and will always love.  Sometimes both.  But always at least one.  It is a beautiful sight to see.

God is no less loving.  What a comfort it was for the LORD to tell Israel prior to their failure that He would always love them!  They didn’t have to wonder in the midst of their troubles.  They knew beforehand that God would be merciful.  This had to make their captivity a bit easier to endure.  Praise the LORD that we know of His lovingkindness and mercy before He has to exercise His judgment.  Praise the LORD, our Father, who is kind and understanding.  Praise the LORD that we know that before our lives are thrown into chaos.  Praise the LORD that we can see the end from the beginning!  Praise God for who and what He is.

Details are Helpful

“For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.” (Ps 38:18 AV)

A great attitude to have.  David may have had his faults, but one thing you could never accuse him of was a lack of conscience for his sins.  David was quick to confess and forsake.  To say that David felt bad would be an understatement.  When David asked for mercy, typically it was for the sake of those who were affected by his sin.  He prayed and fasted for the child born to Bathsheba.  He prayed for the nation when he numbered them against God’s will.  David sought mercy for the priests at Nob.  David’s habit was to intercede for those affected by wrong choices on his part.  I cannot say for certain, but the times when David sought mercy for himself before any others seem rare or non-existent.  As a rule of life, the verse above was typical for David.  He genuinely felt badly that his sin had adverse effects on those around him.  He felt bad that he had offended the only God he loved.  He felt shame at failure and strove to improve as a man.  David is a great example of an imperfect man working hard to be the man God wanted him to be.

Declaring our iniquity is the hardest part.  We are not talking about a cursory confession.  No.  When David declared his sin, he didn’t couch it in ambiguous terms.  David got down to the nitty-gritty.  When he declared his sin, he stated the full fault and even the nature of that sin toward God.  There is a legal concept we have in American courts call allocution.  An allocution is a sworn statement by the defendant offered to the court describing the crime committed, the means by which it was committed, and the cause for committing the crime.  Allocution is usually part of a plea deal to ensure the defended is indeed guilty of the crime and that a complete understanding of his actions is in evidence.  Included in the allocution is a statement of remorse intended to help the victims with closure but also intended to plea for mercy from the court.  This allocution must be detailed.  A simple statement of guilt is insufficient.  The court is looking for a fully informed confession and a state of mind able to confess to the crime in question.  If the allocution is not satisfactory, the court has the right to reject it and force the case to trial.  The important thing here is the detail required for an allocution to be accepted.

Often, we go to prayer confessing sin in a general and ambiguous way.  What we do not do is take the time to allocate to the sin at hand.  We don’t spend time sharing with God what He already knows.  Just because He is all-knowing doesn’t mean we have come to terms with what we have done.  Allocution is more for our benefit than it is His.  When David confessed his sin, it wasn’t a general statement.  He didn’t admit to adultery without the details of the affair.  He described what he had done, and that it was wicked.  David didn’t simply state that a poor decision resulted in the death of the priests and Nob.  He stated that he occasioned the death of the innocent.  David did not merely state that a census was taken against the will of God.  He confessed that he was the one who ordered it even against godly counsel not to.  In other words, when David confesses his sin, he does so in detail.  Right down to why God has the right to inflict whatever punishment He deems appropriate.  This is the difference between David and most saints.  David isn’t afraid to confront the ugly side of his life.  He is not timid when attacking his own character.  He gets it all out in the open.  Then he falls upon the grace of God for forgiveness and restoration.

Rebuke As Love

“Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” (Le 19:17 AV)

This is a fascinating verse.  The mark of hatred is remaining silent toward another who is in sin.  Some commentators assume the sin was or is directed toward the silent one of the beginning of the verse.  In other words, if we have been offended by another person’s sin and we do not speak up, we in essence hate our brother.  Not because we have been wronged.  Rather, because we don’t say anything.  However, there is a more general possibility.  If they do not rebuke a person living in obvious sin, then God considers us in hatred against to offender.  If we do not say something when we see something, we do not genuinely love.  I believe the latter understanding to be more accurate.  If we see someone living and acting wickedly and ignore it when we can intervene, then we cannot say we have love for others.

Confrontation is not comfortable.  At least for most of us, it is not comfortable.  For the most part, we avoid it.  We don’t want to tell someone they are in the wrong.  That is why witnessing for Jesus is so difficult.  It is difficult telling someone they are utterly wicked and deserve the torments of hell forever.  These truths rarely go over well.  Most people do not like to confront, nor do they like to be confronted.  But saying nothing causes harm to a situation that might have changed.  I love doctors.  But doctors are often not blunt enough.  If there is something we are doing that is causing our poor health, I would hope they would respect their profession enough to say something.  Our childhood pediatrician was like that.  He shot from the hip.  He was blunt.  If he thought my mother was making mistakes, he would not hold back.  He would give her a dressing down right there in the exam room with her child(ren) present.  In fact, he preferred it that way.  He could read our mother the riot act, and by our presence, we got it, too.  Believe it or not, we children did not take exception to the tongue lashing my Mom received.  Deep down in our hearts, we knew the doctor was right, and it was more our fault than our Mom’s fault.  Praise the LORD, he was professional enough and cared enough for his patients that he did not hold back the truth.

Solomon says that if we see someone engaged in harmful sin, it us our obligation to rebuke.  If someone is engaged in destructive behavior, to say nothing is to hate the person.  To say something when we see something means we love the individual and are saving them from a multitude of sins.  Most of the time, rebuke is rejected.  Most of the time it is mocked.  But ‘most of the time’ should not exclude ‘some of the time’.  Even if we are mocked or ignored, there still may be that one who will be honest enough to repent.  If we are always silent, we will never know.

The Goat Is Supposed to be Lost

“But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.”  Leviticus 16:10

As someone who has spent a fair amount of time in the wilderness, I wondered what would ever become of that scapegoat.  Where did it travel?  Did it survive?  Did it find other wild goats?  Was the scapegoat eaten by wild animals?  The instruction was to take the scapegoat to a remote area where no person lived.  He was not merely let loose close to the camp.  The priest would deliberately take this animal to a place where it would be highly unlikely to be found by anyone but God.  Then my mind went to the natural reaction of some.  I imagine some adventurous young men might head out to find the scapegoat.  Not that they could do anything with it once found.  It would be the adventure of finding it that would satisfy.  Any sane person would say that such an adventure was a waste of time.  First, they wouldn’t know where to start looking.  Second, they didn’t know if the goat existed.  Perhaps it was destroyed.  Third, if the goat was still alive, it was not stationary.  As they moved to find it, it would move to evade.  The likelihood of finding the animal was remote at best.  This reminds me of those who cannot let go of the past.  Their past sins, that is.

Have you ever lost something and concluded that it will never be found?  What is fascinating to me is that as I sit here and type, I cannot think of a single valuable thing I have lost and never found.  I can think of several that were lost for a while and then later found.  I lost a pair of glasses in the snow, and when it melted a month later, I found them.  There was my wife’s engagement ring that we found in the cuff of my pants.  Then she lost her wedding ring and engagement ring, and it was found six weeks later.  The latter was replaced before the original was found.  The LORD allowed me to make good on a promise of almost forty years ago and get her a bigger diamond.  The original was very inexpensive and was all we could afford.  It is amazing that bigger and better makes what was lost seem smaller.  What I fail to do is remember anything that was permanently lost, which made my life worse and not better.  I have lost plenty of fishing lures.  I know I have.  But I cannot remember any specific one.  I know I have lost articles of clothing.  Dryers have a way of eating them.  Once lost, it would be futile to try to find them.

So, why would we want to dig up our past when the LORD has covered it in His blood?  We are like those silly and adventurous boys looking for a goat where it should not be found simply for the exercise of looking.  Our motive might be different.  Perhaps we want to experience the sins of the past all over again.  Or, we cannot seem to forgive ourselves.  Therefore, we thrive on arrogant self-abasement.  Maybe fear has us looking where we ought not to look.  Whatever the cause, the foolishness of looking for something that is supposed to be forgotten is harmful at best.  If the goat is gone, let it remain gone.  If the goat was left to wander in the wilderness, we have to trust the LORD that He will keep it away.  It is where no one but God would know.  And He won’t take us there.  If we are digging up the past, we are not confident in the mercy of God. 

Joy In Tomorrow

“And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.” (Ps 35:9 AV)

I love the future tense of this verse.  I love the certainty of David’s outlook.  He is currently in distress.  He is persecuted by those to whom he shows the utmost kindness.  Even when mistreated, he treats his enemies very well.  Yet they don’t get it.  They continue on.  The more he loves, as Paul says, the less he is loved.  In the midst of his complaint, he makes this statement.  He can because he knows the nature of God.  He knows that regardless of his present situation, his future will always be bright.  He knows no matter what life is presently like, the future looks outstanding!  That is the way to go through life!

The present may stink, but the future does not.  The older I get, the less I can tolerate cold winters.  Yuk!  I was watching a docuseries on a lost expedition to Siberia.  A group of younger college students embarked on a winter trip over a pass in Siberia.  The entire expedition was lost.  All fourteen of the college students perished.  The mystery is how and why.  This expedition exited their tent as though they were in an emergency.  Not one was dressed.  They all had bare feet.  It appeared as though they left in a hurry and something kept them from returning.  The tent was destroyed.  The stove was never assembled and used.  A real mystery.  This docuseries retraced the steps of the expedition in the same time of year.  Albeit, almost 75 years later.  What struck me as I was watching this is the extreme cold and remoteness of this trip.  The weather got down to thirty below zero without a wind chill factor.  They were camping in tents.  The closest village of any sort was a two-hour snowmobile ride away.  There isn’t enough money in the world to get me to do that.  One shot had the host and two guides talking about the possibilities of demise.  They stood in open tundra with the wind gusting around them.  All I could think of was how to get out of there.  What did they have to look forward to?  Two hours away there was heat and more permanent structures.  It was the fact this docuseries was coming to an end and as soon as they got all their shots, they were headed home.

Our lives are not perfect.  Along the way we will have troubles and trials.  There will be times when we think survival is impossible.  There are days when it seems the sun never shines.  There are days we wonder if God even cares.  Those days, although common, are not permanent.  Like the docuseries crew, we have a limited time in a state of trial.  The time we have in glory is eternity.  The seventy years or so of our earthly journey is not even comparable to forever!  This is why David could rejoice in a reality did not have, but eventually will have.  This is why life was more than tolerable.  It was survivable.  This is why David could thrive and not merely survive.  Our eyes are in the wrong place.  As little orphan Annie sang, “Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya, Tomorrow; you’re only a day away”.  There is a home in heaven with my name written on it.  There is one for you, too.  Most of all, the unfiltered presence of God resides there.  The joys of glory cannot be compared.  There is nothing like it.  Joy abounds and troubles cease.  That is why our hope is always in the future.  Not in the present.

God Heals the Broken Heart

“[The righteous] cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD [is] nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” (Ps 34:17-18 AV)

What words of hope are these?  Tremendous!  Beyond tremendous!  We have to be careful to remember that relief may not always be immediate.  Most of the time, it is not.  Most of the time God’s deliverance is future tense.  Most of the time He delivers by bringing us through the trial before the trial ends.  What is interesting to consider is the reality of a broken heart compared to God’s response to it.  One would ask of the LORD’s judgment in allowing a heart to be broken in the first place.  Our beloved Psalmist does not consider this.  It won’t change the reality of it.  His heart is broken regardless, and wondering why God did not prevent it doesn’t change the fact that it is broken.  In the context of our psalm, the heart needed to be broken.  Because the word ‘contrite’ is used, this suggests repentance.  That is what ‘contriteness’ means.  To be contrite means to come the reality that we have sinned and are broken for it.  Therefore, God is near.  But sin isn’t the only cause of a broken heart.  We may not initially understand the necessity for it.  It still comes.  The comfort comes from the truth that God is near and that God will deliver.

Mayoclinic.org states, “Broken heart syndrome is a heart condition that's often brought on by stressful situations and extreme emotions. The condition also can be triggered by a serious physical illness or surgery. Broken heart syndrome is usually temporary. But some people may continue to feel unwell after the heart is healed.  People with broken heart syndrome may have sudden chest pain or think they're having a heart attack. Broken heart syndrome affects just part of the heart. It briefly interrupts the way the heart pumps blood. The rest of the heart continues to work as usual. Sometimes the heart contracts more forcefully.”  I noticed a few things here.  First, broken heart syndrome is temporary.  I also noticed that after the trauma, a feeling of being unwell might continue.  It is also interesting that the broken heart can continue to function normally because most of the muscle is uninterrupted or damaged.  What a perfect picture of the trials of life.  Even Job has something that worked.  He may have lost his family, his purpose, and his health, but he still had his mind, his friends, and his wife.  God did not allow complete loss. 

A broken heart may be broken.  But a broken heart is never destroyed.  With the LORD there is always strength.  It is never as bad as it seems.  It is funny how a broken heart is laser-focused on the broken part.  It fails to see how everything else is healthy.  The break is the largest factor.  That is what we feel.  That is what hurts.  The broken heart screams for relief.  The broken heart simply does not want to feel the break anymore.  But as we read above, it is temporary.  Once David went to the LORD and gained reconciliation, the occupational therapy begins.  No doubt David picked his harp up, plucked a few familiar songs, and perhaps wrote some new ones.  No doubt he went home to be with his family.  Thoughts would still enter that hindered the healing process.  But as I learned after my shoulder surgery, therapy is slow but effective.  God is there.  He is there to heal and deliver.  It takes time. There is no quick fix.  The great Physician has clocked in.  He is there.  He will be there.  All the way through the healing process, God is there.  And you will be ok.

Listen Up

“Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:” (Pr 1:20 AV)

Wisdom is not within.  It is without.  God is the source of all wisdom.  To attempt to make decisions without going to a greater source of ourselves is not going to work.  It struck me this morning that we often turn within to find answers rather than to go to something or someone bigger than Self.  The Spirit also spoke loudly about the crying of wisdom.  Wisdom isn’t a whisper.  Wisdom is a shout.  When Solomon speaks of this comparison, it is somewhere between foolish and silly.  A young man goes down a street and wisdom cries aloud.  On the other corner is a strange woman enticing him to sin.  One against the other.  It is too bad that wisdom has to yell.  One would think that as powerful as wisdom is, it wouldn’t have to shout.  But it does.  What we want to deeply consider is that wisdom is without.  Not within.

I like puzzles.  I have an app on my phone that offers nine different word puzzles.  Most of them I cannot do without help.  One of them is figuring out the top answers to a single question.  Another arranging words according to category.  Still another is finding hidden words.  There are two crossword puzzles.  There are three more puzzles that require unique skills with words.  There is one that is frustrating.  The puzzle starts out with a four-letter word.  Then the answer to the clue requires one letter to be changed.  Then another clue and another single letter is changed.  It is frustrating because most of the clues are cultural.  The clues are about some actor, movie, or non-American reference.  This puzzle is impossible to solve without help.  I have to ask Mr. Google who played what part or the first name of an author of a book I’ve never heard of.  I have to ask my search engine what England would call an item as opposed to America.  There are words in that puzzle that I have never heard of.  Solving these puzzles without help is near to impossible.

Life is far more complicated than a word puzzle.  We would be fools to try to solve all of life’s challenges within the resources of our own mind.  It is a fool's errand.  God has not made us to be an island unto ourselves.  He has provided His word and other people to be that source of wisdom that is screaming for our attention.  We go through life with deaf ears.  And in the process cause undue harm.  Why?  Why don’t we listen to that one source who is yelling with a bullhorn?  Why don’t we stop in our tracks and listen to the voice that is crying without?  Why don’t we let God be God?