Merciful Kindness of God

God’s Strange Work

Ken

It is strange work, when God must deal with His people in the same way He treated their enemies in times past. “For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act” (Isaiah 28:21 KJV). It is “strange work” (28:21) for God to turn on His own people. It was formerly at Mount Perazim that the LORD gave David  victory over the Philistines (2Samuel 5:20). And, at Gibeon, Jehovah gave victory to Joshua over a confederation of kings (Joshua 10:10), but now He will perform a work that “ye will not believe, though it be told you” (Habakkuk 1:5). Israel will lose its military engagements. Why? Because of the wickedness of Israel’s conduct, God will allow Israel’s enemies to treacherously abuse and devour her (1:13). 

By doctrine and tradition, both Israel and the Church have so absorbed the idea of their national and moral invincibility, they have forgotten what God requires of them to maintain that invincibility. “And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deuteronomy 10:12). God will always find a way to deal with His people, though He will treat His people in the same way He dealt with their enemies in times past. 

Father, it is You who are faithful to the uttermost, not we. You have never abandoned the kindness of Your Word of promise to Your people. But, You are to be exalted in Your work, Your strange work for dealing with our unfaithfulness. May You be praised for the wisdom of Your love in judging us. And, may You be held in the highest esteem for all Your actions regarding us. In Jesus’ name, we ask it. Amen and amen.

Try A Little Kindness

Ken

When was the last time you were accused of being kind? “Love is kind [Greek, chrēsteuomai, obliging, willing to help]” (1Corinthians 13:4 NET).  I noticed a clip from a television show, where a doctor was speaking rather abruptly to a very young patient. I immediately thought of the expression “kindly doctor” as what we would rather see in a physician’s bedside manner. How often do we see people in public, who seem to have a scowl on their face, like the sun’s in their eyes? But, do we do that, too, so others won’t think they can run over us, or that we smile for no reason and are senile? I ran across a great grandmother volunteering at a food distribution center. She had a kindly face, and I don’t think she was senile. Kindness is not a look, but a heart attitude, which truly “doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil” (1Corinthians 13:5 KJV). Only the Spirit of God can work that in a human heart! LORD, make it so in me through the power of Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Kindness: A Measure of God’s Presence

Ken

Margaret Mead, the famous cultural anthropologist, not necessarily known as an apologist for God, is said to have made the observation to a student that she considered the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture to be a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. In the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. No animal survives long enough for the bone to heal without the assistance of someone to bind the wound, provide safety, and promote recovery. “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32 KJV).

Negotiating With God

Ken

“That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25 KJV). Abraham interceded for Lot, when he negotiated for Jehovah’s willingness to put off the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The LORD was not negotiating whether it was right to deal with the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah, but He was willing to give the evil twin cities more time to repent — and, they never did! Never mistake God’s merciful kindness for unwillingness or inability.