Mercy Me

The basis of God’s faithfulness to His people is the covenant He made with His people.   ~~~   Not only do we see God’s covenant faithfulness in the men God uses to guide us, but in the ever-present mercy God gives us. We read about this mercy in 1 Samuel 12:6-16, and it is staggering. Samuel begins by commanding the people to stand still, to stop whatever they were doing. And what were they doing, they were rejoicing (11:15). How interesting is it that Samuel interrupts the party and worship service in order to teach the people about God’s character. Why would he do this? Because the people were heading in a wrong direction with their worship and thinking. They were headed down the path of thinking that all was good in the hood, when it was not. So stand still, “that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous deeds of the LORD that he performed with you and for your fathers.” Two phrases become immensely important here. First, Samuel does all of this “before the LORD.” In other words, I am going speak honestly with you, and if I am not honest, then God is here watching and listening and He will judge me. All that I say will be said in front of the LORD. So Samuel is quite serious at this point. Next, he says he wants to plead with the people concerning the “righteous deeds of the LORD.” That word “righteous” means “the fulfillment of just expectations between two parties. That which corresponds to being just.” What are those righteous deeds? God brought the Israelites out of the oppression of the Egyptians to dwell in the promised land. And when the people turned their backs on God, He disciplined them because he loved them. And when they cried out to Him in repentance, He rescued them…again, and again, and again. It was a cycle of rebellion, repentance, and rescue. Generation after generation. Time after time. Why? How can God say, “Do not fear,” to people who have rejected him, and not just once, but over and over again? What is the basis of God’s faithfulness to His people? Could it be that God sees something in us that we do not see in ourselves…that one day, we will finally get it right, that we will turn this thing around?…Since God knows how it all ends, does He see that we will finally come around to being completely faithful to Him on our own? No! No! No! The basis of God’s faithfulness to His people is the covenant He made with His people.When it is all said and done, and the people of God surround the throne of God, no one will be talking about how wise God was in choosing good people, smart people, wise people, strong people, from every tribe and nation and tongue. But rather, we will all be utterly astounded at the grace of God in rescuing and changing such sinners like you and me into being trophies and spoils of His Grace!