God’s Kindness

How blessed we are to be assured of the LORD’s compassion upon us. How fortunate we are to rest in the hope of His kindness and gentleness towards us. For God looks upon the earth and sees not one good man or woman upon it. All have sinned and have gone astray, all have at one point rebelled against His goodness and rejected His statutes. The Almighty God has done wondrous deeds for His people. He has performed miraculous signs in Egypt and has led His people safely into a land flowing with milk and honey. He has given them an inheritance to last for eternity, and has Himself drawn near to them. The LORD has set before His people the choice of blessing or curse, and after all He has given to them, they have chosen to go astray. So then, what do we deserve from God? Do we deserve to be blessed richly? No. Instead, we deserve to be punished by Him because we have failed to uphold our promise to hear and obey all His Word completely.

And here is where the wonder of God is witnessed and celebrated. While we are deserving of His wrath, God withholds it from us. When He should respond to us in holy anger, He instead displays compassion towards His people. He remembers that we are small, that we are only flesh, and He shows us mercy. He remembers that He cannot expect from us finite and limited beings the righteousness and faithfulness that He continually displays. He remembers that we are in utter need of Him. He knows that we are doomed should He choose to act according to our own merits. And so, He exhibit towards us His kindness. He shows us grace by Jesus. He works His Salvation by His Son. Praise the LORD that even in our sin He has chosen to show us mercy when we seek it! For without His undeserved compassion, where would we be?