Mercy & Truth
Good Morning,
I found myself thinking about mercy and truth. These attributes are often found together in the Bible and teach us much.
Psalm 85:10 “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Psalm 98:3 “He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.”
Proverbs 16:6 “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.”
Many lessons involve mercy and truth, but for today, I would like to focus on the response of Samuel when the people of Israel demanded their first king.
First of all, we notice how wrong the children of Israel were to ask for a king.
1 Samuel 12:13 “Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.”
vs. 17 “…that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king.”
vs. 20 “...ye have done all this wickedness…"
Twice, Samuel calls the request for a king wickedness. Yet, because the children of Israel fussed at the Lord, God let them have their way. As demonstration of the severity of their wicked choice, God sent rain in their harvest. Perhaps, a symbol of the power of the prophet of God (which their king could not have), or a severe warning that God can change anything in a moment. (Wet grain could not be harvested because it would mold. Their plans needed to change; the grain could not be harvested that day.)
Now to the point concerning mercy and truth:
Although it was wrong, and though it was an act of rejection toward God, God still chose to have mercy on the children of Israel.
1 Samuel 8:7 “And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”
Although their action made a clear statement that they would rather have a frail man lead them than God, and though they spoke outright that they would like to be like the world around them, God showed mercy on them in granting their request.
1 Samuel 8:5 “And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
vs. 20 “That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.”
Although Samuel, the man of God, severely warned the children of Israel about their evil choice, God still allowed them to have their way. Then God added His comments:
vs. 14 “If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God:”
vs. 15 “But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as it was against your fathers.”
If these people would do right, stay close to the Lord, and obey His Word, they could go on and be a blessed people. The desire for a king was wrong, but God was merciful. The issue: doing right is not easy for mankind under ideal circumstances, and every time we do something stupid, such as changing our lives to fit in with the world, it makes it harder to do right.
The choice was so bad that the people feared God would kill them all.
vs. 19 “And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask us a king.”
No doubt, the fact that the people wanted something that was wrong was clear. God was not going to fight with them, but rather allow them to have their own way, even though it was a dangerous path and much more likely to lead them away from God. The mercy God gave them in agreeing to their request was followed by the truth of the consequences — fields being rained upon and the dread of possible death.
vs. 20 “And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart;”
vs. 21 “And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.”
Over and over God has warned us not to turn aside or seek vain things.
Through this story, we see that people can openly rebel against the Lord in their desire to be like the world around them, yet in mercy, God may still bless them. In these situations, God gives serious warnings of the danger and that extra care must be exercised to do right; for the choice may move one much closer to a sinful path.
To say that God is happy with the choice is stupid! The bad choice was called wickedness twice; God showed His anger by an untimely thunderstorm on their crops. Their choice was not acceptable, and the path was not a safe one. The people would have been much better off if they had listened to the old preacher. Adjusting our lives to adapt to the world around us is never a good idea.
Mercy and truth: mercy, in that God tolerates our foolishness and tries to find a way to bless us in our rebellion; truth, in that wrong is clearly wrong and dangerous, and we are asking for trouble.
To be sure, you will encounter people who do things that your pastor has shown you from the Bible to be clearly wrong. Yes, many of those people are blessed but are also much nearer to danger.
Yes, some churches choose to be "like the world,” and yes, I believe it angers God, but in mercy, God tolerates their wrong, blesses them, and warns them to do right. He warns them that they are much nearer to ruin than if they were to walk according to the Bible and not try to be "like the nations" around them. Finally, though the adults in those situations may survive, their children are the ones who are most likely to veer off the path and fall.
Since we cannot see the road ahead, it is always best to follow our Divine GPS and let the Lord guide us on the safest path possible.
Nothing is as safe as doing right.
Pastor