“Righteous art thou, O LORD, And upright are thy judgments. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. My zeal hath consumed me, Because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure: Therefore thy servant loveth it. I am small and despised: Yet do not I forget thy precepts. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, And thy law is the truth. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: Yet thy commandments are my delights. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: Give me understanding, and I shall live.”
Psalm 119:137-144 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.119.137-144.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 ...