“The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:6-10).
Our Loving and Gracious Heavenly Father, We are thankful that Your justice and mercy go hand in hand! What a God of love You are! Please help us not to take Your mercy for granted, and to give You thanks for Your justice! In the Name which is above every name; the Name of Jesus Christ, we give You thanks. Amen.
As we come to the end of Thanksgiving Week, we are blessed as we observe two of God’s divine attributes complementing each other: Mercy and Justice! Oftentimes in our dealing with one another, these two are in conflict; but thank God, in His dealings with us, these two work in perfect harmony in order that we might have eternal life!
Let us look at the way these two divine attributes talk to each other in this amazing Psalm!
The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed. He
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.
We saw God fighting Israel’s battle to bring them out of Egyptian bondage. And even though God knew beforehand, that they would become stiffnecked and rebellious, He brought them out anyway; with ten powerful plagues, when in their oppression, they cried out to Him! He made His ways known to His servant Moses and revealed Himself to the children of Israel, by His mighty acts!
He executed justice by bringing them out of Egyptian bondage. And even after they rebelled against Him, God showed them mercy!
The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
Once again the mention of His mercy, this time accompanied by His graciousness! And abounding! What could we ever do, to deserve such mercy, such love?
But note that His mercy and grace does not eliminate His justice. When the psalmist says that He is slow to anger, there are things that call forth the anger of the Lord, and therefore, His justice!
“These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
Not only His anger, the language is even stronger. These are things God hates. They are abominable in His sight. These are acts that destroy, and kill, and cause pain; that rob relationships of their beauty and value, that cause separation.
No small wonder that the Lord, when rebuking the religious leaders of His day, who were guilty of many of these deeds, identified them as children of the devil (John 8:44)!
The God of Justice will see that justice is served, for all! And because His mercy abounds, even the vilest sinner who repents, will find mercy!
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Aren’t you happy to hear that? God will not deal with us, “an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth”? He will not deal with us, “tit for tat!” I say thank You Jesus! Where would any of us be, if God punished us as we deserve?
Speaking for myself, I do not get the amount of sleep that my body (the temple of the Holy Spirit) requires and deserves! God has shown me time and again that I am doing great harm to myself by not resting as I should. I am grieved when the Lord shows me these errors, and in the moment, I am determined to do better – “but what I would, I do not, and what I would not, that I do” (Romans 7)!
Even though our causes have their effects, I believe that God intervenes, so that we do not receive the full negative results that our actions deserve! Merciful God! Such mercy should inspire us to be much more faithful than we tend to be!
As we consider these things, may we, by God’s grace, be determined in the strength of the Lord, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to be fully surrendered to the will of our Heavenly Father, because of our love for Him!