“To him which smote great kings: For his mercy endureth for ever: And slew famous kings: For his mercy endureth for ever: Sihon king of the Amorites: For his mercy endureth for ever: And Og the king of Bashan: For his mercy endureth for ever: And gave their land for an heritage: For his mercy endureth for ever: Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: For his mercy endureth for ever. Who remembered us in our low estate: For his mercy endureth for ever: And hath redeemed us from our enemies: For his mercy endureth for ever. Who giveth food to all flesh: For his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of heaven: For his mercy endureth for ever.”
Psalm 136:17-26 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.136.17-26.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 ...