“And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is
no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant
and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:” (1Ki 8:23
AV)
Of all the things Solomon could have chosen to set apart God from all others, he chose the condescending nature of God. He chose to praise the LORD for the one thing that matters the most to all of God’s created beings. What matters most is not the wonders of the universe. The fact the entire universe is perfectly balanced and life thrives on earth is not the one aspect of God that Solomon praises. His sovereign control over all things both sentient and inanimate is not what Solomon is most impressed with. The truth that all things work together for the glory of God even when beings exercise free-will is not the wonder of God Solomon chooses to praise Him for. The miracle of life and how the LORD sustains it is not that for which Solomon is stirred. How the human body functions down to the molecular level is not what blows the mind of Solomon. The wonder of God’s omniscience is not the attribute for which Solomon is impressed. The fact God knows what is in our minds and on our hearts is not more impressive than what our wise king has taken pains to pray. What really moves this king who has more wisdom than any man is the fact that God would want anything to do with wicked mankind, to begin with. That God truly desires to walk with men, and that is the reason for which we were created, humbles, and blows the mind of a king who has more knowledge and wisdom than any and all.
Specifically, our wise sage tells us two
things that God does for mankind. We do
not deserve these graces. We have not
earned these graces. God keeps
covenant. What that means is that God makes
promises and keeps them. God is
faithful. God doesn’t go back on His
word even though we sorely disappoint Him.
He doesn’t manipulate us so that we dance like puppets on a string. He keeps His word even when we do not keep ours. To keep covenant means more than might at first
come to mind. To keep covenant means a
covenant must be made. This also means
the one making a covenant is seeking someone to whom a covenant can be
made. Think of a wedding vow. Those vows are unbreakable. They are unconditional. We spend our single life looking for someone
to whom we can make those vows. We are
searching. We are praying. We are hoping. Then comes the day wherein we can make that
covenant. This covenant is permanent. This covenant is based on love and nothing
more. The LORD seeks those who would be
interested in a covenant with Him. The
God who created all that we see and whose nature we will never truly understand
wants to enter a relationship with me.
With you! How amazing is that?
Second, God keeps mercy. He supplies all that I will ever need. He does that in spite of my failures to honor
Him. He keeps mercy. He forgives.
He is patient and knows how frail I am.
He knows how pathetic I am. He
knows exactly how much I have failed to live for Him. He knows every time I have walked in the pleasure
of my own flesh. He knows how many times
I have failed to speak for Him and how many souls have passed off into eternity
that I have failed to warn. He knows how
much I have read His word only to turn around and do contrary to it. He knows all of that, yet He still forgives. We had the pleasure of hosting a missionary to
an oriental nation. He expounded on the
culture. He explained that honor above
all else was the dominant trait of this culture. So much so that failure was forbidden. One way to ensure failure does not happen is to
abandon forgiveness. If someone is
forgiven, then they will fail. The absence
of mercy is what drives this culture to succeed. Can you imagine living under such repressive
influences? They have one of the highest
suicide rates in the world. That is
understandable. No forgiveness; no
hope. Our God keeps mercy. We do not deserve it. We cannot earn it. He grants it totally by His grace.
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