“Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness Like pillars of smoke, Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, With all powders of the merchant? Behold his bed, which is Solomon's; Threescore valiant men are about it, Of the valiant of Israel. They all hold swords, Being expert in war: Every man hath his sword upon his thigh Because of fear in the night. King Solomon made himself a chariot Of the wood of Lebanon. He made the pillars thereof of silver, The bottom thereof of gold, the covering of it of purple, The midst thereof being paved with love, For the daughters of Jerusalem. Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, And behold king Solomon With the crown wherewith his mother crowned him In the day of his espousals, And in the day of the gladness of his heart.”
Song of Solomon 3:6-11 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/sng.3.6-11.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 ...