“Princes have persecuted me without a cause: But my heart standeth in awe of thy word. I rejoice at thy word, As one that findeth great spoil. I hate and abhor lying: But thy law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise thee Because of thy righteous judgments. Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them. LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, And done thy commandments. My soul hath kept thy testimonies; And I love them exceedingly. I have kept thy precepts and thy testimonies: For all my ways are before thee.”
Psalm 119:161-168 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.119.161-168.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 ...