Sunday Morning Meditation: God’s Greatest Works

Psalm 145: 3-9

“Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
His greatness no one can fathom.” (v3)

David is at it again. Here he is, harp in hand, singing of the greatness of God. Only this time David says God is so great that mere mortals cannot even comprehend it, no individual expression of praise can possibly contain it. Its not enough for one man to sing of the Lord’s power and might, no, David says,

“One generation will commend your works to another;
They will tell of your mighty acts.” (v4)

David has glimpsed the greatness of God, and has seen that it is beyond the ability of mere individuals to proclaim it. Indeed, David sees generation after generation spilling forth praise, still unable to contain the vastness of God’s glory. Individuals aren’t enough to proclaim his greatness, generations aren’t enough! Will even eternity be long enough for the people of God to exhaustively proclaim the wonder of his great works! I think not. (Rev 19:1-9)

So David joins with the generations of the people of God, responding to their call and answering their summons to give God Glory,

“They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty,
And I will meditate on your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of your awesome works,
And I will proclaim your great deeds.
They will celebrate your abundant goodness
And joyfully sing of your righteousness.” (v5-7)

But what exactly are God’s “wonderful works,” David, what are his “great deeds?” Is it his creation of the universe, the awesome power of thunder and lightning and earthquakes, or the splendor of the sun and moon? Or, perhaps it is His mighty deeds on behalf of his people, the liberation from bondage in Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea, or the miraculous provision of water and manna in the desert? Certainly these come to mind when dwelling on the greatest works of God.

Yet, in addition to these, David has something even greater in mind and it is to this greatest of all acts of God that David know turn his attention in the middle climax of this song,

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all;
He has compassion on all He has made.” (v8-9)

David knows, there is no act of God quite so great as his unfailing compassion and mercy. For this reason, generation after generation, we seek to praise him into eternity.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Compassion, David, Mercy, Psalms

Sunday Morning Meditation: Too Much Mercy? Jonah 4:1-4

Jonah 4:1-4 – “Too Much Mercy?”

But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the LORD, “O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

But the LORD replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”

Sometimes, it seems, God is too merciful. Its one thing to relieve the suffering of those who are sick, or injured, or suffering unjustly, but what about those who are lazy or wicked? Aren’t we sending the wrong message when we extend a helping hand to those who seem to refuse to work, acknowledge God, or do what is right?

This is Jonah’s problem exactly. God sent him to the Assyrians – a wicked and morally depraved people – with a message of repentance, and Job, knowing full well the abundance of God’s mercy, does everything he can to avoid bringing that message of hope. Why? Because he knows God will forgive them completely, and Jonah has decided they don’t deserve God’s mercy.

We have a problem with genuine mercy. We’d much prefer people earn our alms, if not through their efforts then at least through their overwhelming gratitude. But sometimes, our hardness runs even deeper. Sometimes we have simply judged certain people to be beyond the privilege of mercy. We all do. What is it for you? Perhaps its people who seem lazy or ungrateful, or wear certain clothes or have certain jobs, or have no jobs at all; perhaps its people who have committed a certain kind of crime; or perhaps its people of a certain religion.

Our problem is that we often come to believe that mercy is the privilege of certain kinds of people, but, in fact, mercy is God’s privilege alone and He extends mercy to whomever He pleases. Just as He said to Moses “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” (Ex 33:19)

By displaying his anger in the sight of the repentant Assyrians, Jonah reveals not only his judgment of the Assyrians, but ultimately his judgment of God. Jonah simply believes he knows best who should and who should not be granted mercy. Like Jonah our problem is that we often judge God.

Its no surprise then that God responds by challenging Jonah’s anger. Our response to the mercy of God should always be rejoicing, for mercy is never the vindication of peoples sins, rather it is the demonstration of God’s power and glory at work in the world in spite of sin.

Technorati Tags: Jonah, Mercy

I Will Have Mercy

^“And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”

At some point in our pursuit of the Christian life we come to a great and terrible realization: we discover to our utter shame that, like the Israelites, we are not really interested in God at all. Instead, we are only interested in what God can do for us. What will God acquire for us? Whom God will conquer for us? Why hasn’t God given us the things we want? In the meantime, we may also find to our even greater shame that what we really want is to hold on to our sin, and so, also like the Israelites, we construct new idols to replace old ones (Exodus Chapter 32).

This is just the situation Moses finds himself in as a leader. The people of God have shown themselves to be “stiff-necked” and unwilling to yield to the good commands of the Lord, and so God has decided to grant them their deepest sinful desire: he will give them their riches and their inheritance – the land He has promised – and send them into it alone, without himself. Otherwise, He says, because of they are disobedient, “if I were to go with you, even for a moment, I might destroy you” (Exodus 33:5).

Then something amazing happens, and perhaps this has happened to you too. Because God has offered to abandon them to their sin, Moses and the people realize their mistake. Their great inheritance and their great riches exist not in the wealth of the land that has been promised, but rather in the very presence of God among them, and so Moses cries out before the Lord on behalf of the people, “If your presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all other peoples on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15-16)

Moses proclaims that his desire, and the desire of the people, is for nothing but God, and even if gaining God means losing everything else, they will willingly leave their treasures behind.

What follows in verse 19 is perhaps the greatest revelation of all; God responds mercifully. Our relationship with God is not based on our ability to obey it is based solely on His ability to have mercy on us. They do not deserve Him and neither do we, but the mercy and compassion of God overcomes the obstacle of our sin and judgment.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Exodus, Mercy, Moses