“He is the LORD our God: His judgments are in all the earth. He hath remembered his covenant for ever, The word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, And his oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, And to Israel for an everlasting covenant: Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, The lot of your inheritance: When they were but a few men in number; Yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people; He suffered no man to do them wrong: Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, And do my prophets no harm.”
Psalm 105:7-15 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.105.7-15.KJV
Undeserved Mercies
When someone hurts you or, worse, hurts somebody that you love, revenge can seem appealing. After all…
They were mean.
They were selfish.
They talked behind your back.
They broke a vital promise.
They lied about you.
They criticized you.
They ignored you.
They did the unthinkable.
They walked away.
They deserve to be punished, right? To feel some of that same pain? They deserve a consequence that will not only help them learn, but will be just as severe as the inflicted wounds.
And yet—because God sees things differently, both His standards and tactics can be surprising. And that’s why the apostle Paul, writing to the believers in Thessaloniki, said:
“See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.”
1 Thessalonians 5:15 NLT
Paul’s words sound a lot like Jesus’ words—to love your neighbor as yourself; to do to others what you’d like them to do to you. (See: Matthew 22:38-40)
God’s ways ...