Mercy and the Most Improved Player

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.” (Ps 66:18-20 AV)

 

We often use verse eighteen to teach the saint to keep short accounts with God.  We name that verse as one of the conditions for answered prayer.  Some of the others being; praying in the name of Jesus Christ, praying according to God’s perfect will, or praying by the ministry of the Holy Spirit; to name a few.  However, we tend to allow verse eighteen to stand alone.  What we don’t usually expound upon is David’s assurance of God’s ear and mercy.  This necessarily means David did confess his sin and took comfort in the forgiveness of God.  David was completely confident in the mercy of God that he was able to write the above.  HE was certain God heard him.  He was certain the LORD was merciful to him.  He was certain because he had confessed his sin before his God and His God forgave him!  This confidence in the mercy and forgiveness of God is the strength of our walk in Him.  The more we are convinced of, and accept the mercy of God, the more we will strive to live for Him.  This is the testimony of David’s life.

My youngest son played baseball.  He started in Little League playing on a team from a Navy Base.  There we all sorts of young men with a wide variety of talents and abilities.  Some were very athletic.  Some, not so athletic.  Some were very intelligent and understood the finer nuances of the game.  Others knew only to swing and run.  Most were somewhere in between.  With the wide variety of children came a wide variety of parents.  Most were understanding of the abilities, or lack thereof, of their sons.  However, some were not.  They lived vicariously through their child’s athletic career.  They fancied themselves the father of the next MLB superstar.  These dads were obnoxious and cruel.  They constantly corrected and verbally assaulted their child as motivation for that child to improve his performance.  Sometimes it worked.  However, for the most part, it did not.  The more assault the boy received, the tenser he became which resulted in increased failure.  Loud-mouthed dad couldn’t get it.  He was making his son worse.  Not better.  However, the son who had a father who encouraged him was the boy who improved.  Patience, recognition of success, and small corrections in moderation are what improved that boy to the best level he could play.  When a player understood he was not expected to be perfect, but rather, simply try his best, then he excelled.  When he screwed up, there wasn’t a chewing-out waiting for him.  He was corrected, practiced the play over and again, and encouraged when he made the play.  This was the kind of boy who improved from one season to the next.

David was by no means a perfect man.  He struggled with sin just like you and me. Some of his sins were rather serious.  However, one thing David did have nailed down was a deep faith in the mercy and forgiveness of God.  David is referred to as a man after God’s own heart.  One wonders if that description had more to do with his faith in God’s mercy than the success he had walking in righteousness.  How do we know, aside from David’s testimony, that he truly understood the mercy of God?  Because of his treatment of others.  Particularly when they messed up.  He was gracious time and again with Joab.  Joab repeatedly showed poor judgment and not always serving in the best interest of his king.  David showed compassion on Nabal when Nabal treated David and his men with disrespect.  There was Shemeai, the one who cursed David as he fled from Absalom.  David never sought vengeance.  Perhaps the best example was Absalom himself.  David wished him to be kept alive.  He mourned deeply when he was killed in battle.  David knew he was forgiven and walked in the confidence of the mercy of God.  This is what got him up in the morning.  This is what gave him a few more steps down the road.  Belief in the mercy of God followed him all the way to the grave.  David believed in the mercy of God without hesitation.  So, too, should we.