Psalm 78:36-38

"Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath."

God is merciful. There really is no other conclusion that can be drawn. Were He not merciful, then He would not be God. The skepticism that might greet this statement has at its root an incorrect understanding about God. There is a generally held belief that since God is good and merciful, there will be no war, or illness, or pain, or sorrow. All the while it is forgotten that these things are that which we have brought upon ourselves. It was not God's intention that there be war or sorrow in the world. But when Adam disobeyed God, and ate of the fruit of the tree, these results followed. Adam had fair warning. The presence of war and such things is because of his, and our own, failings. His rebellious nature, evidenced in his disobedience of God, was passed upon all of us. Whether we like it or not, we are only paying the price for that which we have done.

If proper consideration is given to the extent of our sin, our continued disobedience of God, His mercy suddenly comes into view. For if we take in how we have disobeyed Him, the apparent thing is how He has not dealt with us in accordance with our disobedience. We should conclude that we have done far more against Him than what He has dealt to us. If we are not exactly sure of the extent of our offense against Him, we should envision the cross. For scripture tells us that God judged His Son according to the extent of our sin. He took at God's hand what we deserved. See His agony? That is how much God hates our sin. Scripture tells us that the plan to send Christ to the cross was developed before there was even a creation. In eternity past, before God even said, "Let there be...", God said, I have a plan.

Psalm 78 is a telling of the story of the Israelites and God's dealings with them. It is instructive to consider what is there, for as God has been in the past, so will He be in the future. He changes not. Verses 36-38, quoted above, speak both of the insolence of the people of Israel (not unlike our own), and the mercy of God. For it relates how He "many a time turned away His anger..." Is this not mercy? Does He not deal similarly with us? Indeed! He poured out His anger against our rebellion on His own Son. There is no anger left! To make matters even more glorious, the same Jesus who died on the cross rose again, and is sitting at this very moment on the right hand of His Father, interceding for those that are His! Not only did He die for us, but He continues to pray for us. If God be for us, who can be against us?

But there is no place in scripture where we are told that we will not suffer. The reason is that, in the wisdom of God, we still have that rebellious nature. In the wisdom of God, the world is still subject to emptiness because of Adam's sin. This is a great mystery, but true. Jesus died to save our souls from hell. The final outworking of what Jesus has done is yet to come. But He also died to enable us to be obedient to God. All along God wanted that His people should love Him. He wanted, and had, fellowship with Adam in the garden, up until Adam disobeyed. Once we are reconciled to God through Jesus, we find that God again wants this fellowship. But He is not rude. He does not force Himself upon us. In the context of a rebellious nature, God looks to see hearts that turn to Him. He looks to see rebellion melt into trust. Through Christ, we are enabled to make that turn by depending upon Him. Through Christ, hearts are able to turn to Him. Without Him, we are unable to even notice things of spiritual import. So in His mercy, He teaches us about Himself. And sometimes the lessons are hard. The question that is being asked is, "Do you still trust me?" So much in scripture speaks of God's goodness. He is not a masochist looking to see how much pain He can inflect. He wants our willing trust no matter the situation. For He wants us to learn about Him. It has eternal significance. God wants to use us as He used His own Son.

In the Bible, after the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is nobody who suffered as did Job. In the end, He was blessed for trusting God. Oswald Chambers notes, "The suffering of Job is accounted for by the fact that God and satan has made a battle ground of his life ... satan has declared that Job does not love God for Himself, but only for His blessings, and now everything in the way of shelter and comradeship and sympathy has been completely stripped from Job ... but he still clings to it that God is honorable. "I have lost my family, my wealth, my friends ... everything to which a man can at all look for comfort, yet, though He slay me I will trust Him." This is supreme despair, along with extraordinary confidence in God who meantime looks like a Moloch."

How does this compare with our reaction to the hard things? Do we believe that God is in control? Are we willing to wait on His resolution of the matter? This is the thing that we need to learn! Oh for grace to trust Him more!

HJK