Monday Reflection – September 06, 2021

Monday Reflection – September 06, 2021
Mercy Lord!

Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly. Psalm 106:6

One of the critical characteristics of God that we depend on every day is God’s mercy. Without God’s mercy we would all be dead by now. We talk a lot about God’s grace and mercy, but what do these terms mean? For me, God’s grace has to do with what God gives to us that we do not deserve; God’s unmerited favour. On the other hand, God’s mercy relates to the judgement or punishment that we rightly deserve, but God withholds same and replaces that with mercy. Mercy and forgiveness are twins, since we receive God’s mercy because God forgives.

Psalm 106 celebrates Yahweh’s mercy to His covenant people. The Psalm begins by praising God for His enduring mercy, as the Psalmist invites us to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Why? Because God is good and God’s mercy endures forever. This praise for God’s great mercy is especially sincere because it is offered to an often rebellious and ungrateful Israel. Indeed, we celebrate a God who is longsuffering.

In today’s Watchword, the Psalmist confesses Israel’s past and present sins and thus highlights their need for God’s mercy. Verses 6 and 7 say: “Both we and our ancestors have sinned; we have committed iniquity, have done wickedly. Our ancestors, when they were in Egypt, did not consider your wonderful works; they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love, but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea.” Not only were God’s people sinful, but they paid no attention and forgot the magnitude of God’s mercy. So what we have is a contrast between the loving acts of God and Israel’s continued sins and lack of response. This dramatizes the greatness of God’s love and salvation, for He delivered a people who did not respond to His love.

Having acknowledged Israel’s sins, the Psalmist notes in verse 8a, “Yet God saved them for His name’s sake”. Though the Israelites responded to God’s deliverance with ingratitude and rebellion, God answered with rescue, but not only for Israel’s sake, but God’s. Boice makes the noteworthy point that “Israel’s history is as much the story of God’s mercy, faithfulness, and long-suffering as it is the story of Israel’s faithlessness and unbelief. In fact, it is against the background of their sin that God’s patience is most fully illuminated.” Yet, this is our story! We continue to be sinful and rebellious in the face of God’s continued mercies. However, let’s be careful that we don’t become so flippant and carefree doing what we want and ignoring God’s direction because we believe that God is forever merciful. There will come a point when God stops winking at our rebellion and inflict judgement.

Let’s be forever grateful for God’s manifold mercies to us every day, confess our sins and seek God’s forgiveness, pursue a life that honours God, and extend mercy to those who offend us.

Jermaine Gibson