“Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, Being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, And contemned the counsel of the Most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; They fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, And he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And brake their bands in sunder.”
Psalm 107:10-14 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.107.10-14.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 ...