Scripture

For He does not afflict from His heart or grieve the sons of men.

~Lamentations 3:33, LSB

Quote

He is a God who delights in mercy, and judgment is His strange work.”

~Jonathan Edwards

I think I mentioned it in another blog, the Story of the Prodigal’s Father in Luke 15 was shared because the Pharisees and Scribes had a twisted view of God. First they did not picture Him as a Father and to them, He was harsh, cold, rigid, austere, foreboding and unapproachable. Perhaps they understood that God is holy and that He is committed to justice, but they neglected to see that He is also gracious and merciful. Jesus was a perfect reflection of God’s heart but they rejected Jesus and despised His teaching. God afflicts but He takes no pleasure in it. Ezekiel 18:32 and 33:11 give us a better view of the heart of God...‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. The judgement upon Judah that Jeremiah’s witnessed and related to us in his lamentations was a heart breaking thing for the weeping prophet. Little children starving. Money laying in the streets because it was worthless. You can’t eat gold and silver and the markets were all empty because there was no food to be bought. Truly God had afflicted them but not without grief.

God is just and He will always do the right thing but it grieves Him to past judgment. Genesis six states the heart of God clearly…Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Yes He did judge this sinful world but He took no pleasure in doing so. There is no sadistic glee in the heart of God over the destruction of the wicked. Many years later, God judged wayward Israel. His heart is expressed in Hosea 11…“When Israel was a child, I loved him, I called him, but the more I called to him, the farther he moved from me…I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand. But he doesn’t know or even care that it was I who took care of him. I led Israel along with my ropes of kindness and love. I lifted the yoke from his neck, and I myself stooped to feed him. But since my people refuse to return to me, they will return to Egypt and will be forced to serve Assyria. War will swirl through their cities; their enemies will crash through their gates.”

Our Father in heaven is merciful and kind; He takes great delight is showing mercy. Luke 15 illustrated this in more ways than one. Jesus said there is a celebration in heaven every time a sinner repents. What did the Prodigal Father do when his son came home? He had a party. What does this tell you? The Father loves to show mercy. He is committed to justice but He delights in showing mercy.

Extra

I have good news/bad news! The bad news is we got no rain. We were right on the edge of every storm. The good news is that Charles and team got so much done yesterday that we have canceled the Saturday workday. Hallelujah! One section is finished and I expect them to get a lot more done today and tomorrow. Most of the doors are up. We may be getting the electrician and Plummer back next week to finish up. PTL!

Some folks did get rain and more is coming but according to my weather ap it will miss us again. We do have cloud cover and it has cooled a lot. Some even had storms.

I hope you have a good day and thanks for reading the blog.