When Mercy And Judgment are the same

“Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD: quicken me according to thy judgments.” (Ps 119:156 AV)

Mercy and judgment are often at two ends of the spectrum.  The Hebrew word for ‘… judgments…’ is a verdict.  It is God’s judicial act by which He determines a thing or person as right or wrong.  Mercies, on the other hand, is judicial restraint.  Mercies are God’s attribute where He withholds from the errant that which he rightly deserves.  So, we can see how these two might be at opposite ends of the spectrum.  We can also extrapolate these two are incompatible.  If there is true justice, then there is no mercy.  Or, if mercy has been exercised, then justice may not have been fully implemented.  How can judgments and mercies be compatible?  What is the key to having both in force, equally and without conflict?  The judgments above are also compared to the written word of God.  In other words, the judgments may not have been what the Psalmist experienced as much as they are what is written.  One possibility is that judgments can be an extension of God’s mercies.  How would that work?  What would that look like?

Summer camp was the highlight of our summer.  Our troop went to Camp Dittmer each summer.  The campers were dropped off on a Sunday afternoon and went home the following Saturday morning.  There was a process for the whole check-in system.  As each troop arrived, they were entered into the queue.  They were assigned a site depending on the number of scouts in the troop.  The greater the number, the closer to everything you camped.  The less number, the further from the main camp you set up.  Needless to say, we were always one of those troops that set up further away from the center of camp.  That suited my father just fine.  He preferred it that way.  Once we checked in, we were allowed to take our gear to our site.  Then two remaining tasks awaited us.  We had to check-in at the nurse’s station with all our medical forms in order.  Each scout had to have a quick exam by a resident doctor and was admitted as a camper.  Anyone failing was sent home.  Following our exam, we all went to the waterfront where my older brother served as examiner and lifeguard.  His job was to test all the scouts and clear them to swim and at whatever level they tested at.  It was while we waited at the nurse’s station that something happened.  My older brother Chris and I were throwing stones in an attempt to hit a Teepee structure in the middle of a small parade field.  One of the staff caught Chris, but not me.  He tried to rat me out and it didn’t work.  Chris was sentenced to picking up stones from the field for four hours the next day.  Was he angry!  I, on the other hand, got off scot-free.  One would think that would be an advantage.  It was not.  All that taught me was if you were sly enough, you could get away with wrong and no one would notice.  I think Chris got the better end of that deal.  He may have been angry that I didn’t get caught, but I would much rather have been punished than escape it.  I didn’t learn anything positive that day.  But Christ did.  Judgment came and it was a mercy to him.

We may not like those parts of life when the LORD must correct us.  But it is a mercy.  To allow His children to continue in destructive behavior is not kind.  As a father would never allow his son to live contrary to his authority, God will not permit us to do likewise.  That would be cruel.  His judgments are an extension of His mercy.  His verdict of guilty or innocent and the rendering of consequences are His mercy.  To leave us to ourselves because we think mercies always mean getting away with something, would not benefit us or Him.  Add to this that His judgment for our sin was afflicted on Jesus our Savior, and we can see how mercy and judgment co-exist.  To thank God for the afflictions of life takes a bit of maturity.  To see how the LORD allowed or caused judgment as a means of His mercy takes humility and honesty.  The statement David makes above is one of a child of God who truly realizes how blessed he is that God is our Father and He always does what is in our best interest.  So, praise the LORD for His mercies and His judgments.  Sometimes, they are the same.