No greater demonstration of God’s love could be given to the human race than His leadership of Israel down through the centuries. He poured His love out upon them in order to glorify His Name among the nations of the earth. By demonstrating His love and mighty power, some people were aroused to repent of their sins and trust Him as their Savior. God’s great acts of compassion on behalf of Israel prove that He will execute judgment and redeem or save His people.
The Great Mercy of God:
Proves That He Will
Execute Judgment & Redeem or Save His People
7 I
will tell of the loving-kindnesses of God. I will praise him for all he has
done; I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted in
accordance with his mercy and love. 8 He said, “They are my very
own; surely they will not be false again.” And he became their Savior. 9 In
all their affliction he was afflicted, and he personally saved them.a
In his love and pity he redeemed them and lifted them up and carried them
through all the years.
10 But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. That is why he became their enemy and personally fought against them. 11 Then they remembered those days of old when Moses, God’s servant, led his people out of Egypt, and they cried out, “Where is the One who brought Israel through the sea, with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the God who sent his Holy Spirit to be among his people? 12 Where is he whose mighty power divided the sea before them when Moses lifted up his hand, and established his reputation forever? 13 Who led them through the bottom of the sea? Like fine stallions racing through the desert, they never stumbled. 14 Like cattle grazing in the valleys, so the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. Thus, he gave himself a magnificent reputation” (Isaiah 63:7–14).[1]
The great mercy and love of God have been demonstrated down through history. Therefore, God’s people can rest assured, His day of redemption will come. As Isaiah just predicted, all the oppressors of God’s people will be crushed, and true believers will be redeemed by God’s mighty hand. The Lord will save His people. A quick glance at the history of Israel shows His unfailing love for all who truly trust Him:
1)
The Lord had chosen Abraham and his
descendants to be His people. They were to be God’s family, His sons, and
daughters who would be true to Him. But down through history, Israel had gone
astray time and again. Nevertheless, the Lord had always held out hope that
they would not continue to disobey and break His holy commandments.
2)
Seeking to hold His family together, the Lord
had always stepped forth as their Savior (v. 8b–9). Despite their wayward lives, He had always identified
with their distress and sufferings. He had saved, redeemed, and carried them
through all the years, never failing to show His love and mercy.
3)
When the people rebelled and grieved His
Holy Spirit, God always disciplined them as a loving Father (v. 10).
Sometimes, His hand of discipline had to be strong, so strong it appeared as
though He was their enemy and was fighting against them. But contrary to
appearance, He was merely disciplining His people, seeking to arouse them to
correct their behavior.
4)
The Lord had used His discipline to stir the
people to repent and to remember His care in days of old (Vv. 11–14).
Often His discipline was effective. His people remembered God’s love and mercy
down through the centuries. In particular, they remembered the days of Moses …
·
when God gave them the great gift of a shepherd,
a leader like Moses (v. 11)
·
when God gave His Holy Spirit to dwell among
them (Nu. 11:17, 25; also see Ex. 31:3, 6; 35:30–35)
·
when God’s awesome power divided the Red Sea (v. 12;
Ex. 14:21–29)
·
when God guided and led them step by step,
keeping them from stumbling as long as they followed His leadership (v. 13)
· when God gave them both spiritual and physical rest in the promised land (Jos. 23:1)
The Lord’s Loving-Kindnesses
7“I will tell of the loving-kindnesses of God. I will praise him for all he has done; I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted in accordance with his mercy and love.”[2]
The point
impressed is that being so deeply impressed with one great blessing received
from God, the whole course of God’s dealings with his people came freshly to
their view.
In the light
of one loving kindness, they gained clearer views of the many and various loving
kindnesses which had so constantly been showered upon them. “I will remember
the loving-kindnesses of the Lord.” That appears to be God’s gracious way
of dealing with us all. Our lives are, in fact, full of his tender mercies, but
they pass by us unheeded. We need something at times that may call our
attention to them. So, God gives us occasional great mercies as reminders of
the thousand lesser ones. A special gift from an earthly friend has something
of this power; it makes us feel afresh how good and kind and tender he long has
been.
I.
The Lord’s loving-kindnesses read in the
light of the redemption from Babylon. This deliverance altered all their
feeling about the past. It gave them a key to the meaning of their very
captivity. It set them upon searching for signs of God’s goodness in the
national story. And what a story of mercy that long record of the Jewish Church
had been! What we can see in it everywhere, those returned exiles saw in the
light of their exceeding joy—forbearances, longsufferings, provisions,
bestowments, loving-kindnesses, defendings, redeemings—the good hand of their
God ever on them for good.
II.
The Lord’s loving-kindnesses read in the
light of the redemption from sin. St. Paul expresses this idea in the
words, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The “all things” come to
his mind when he thinks of the great things. He who gives eternal life will be
sure to nourish and feed all the life he gives. He who holds before us the hope
of an exceeding and eternal weight of glory will be sure to keep us unto it and
fit us for it. We may be quite confident that he who gives glory will give
grace, withholding no good thing from them that walk uprightly.
III. This is the usual form of Christian meditations. We unconsciously follow the returned exiles’ way and begin with the greatest loving-kindness. We tune our souls to their noblest song over redemption-love manifested in Christ Jesus. We dwell on his condescension and his suffering until our souls say, “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable Gift!” But in the quietness after the song, there seems to be a light left on our whole life story, which, as we watch it, grows brighter and brighter; falling here and there and yonder, showing up mercy after mercy, goodness upon goodness, we also begin to say, “We will remember the loving-kindnesses of the Lord.”—R. T.[3]
Prayer:
“I Will Tell of The Loving-Kindnesses of God.
I Will Praise Him for All He Has Done…”
V
“And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation” (Lu.
1:50).
V
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved” (Jn. 3:16–17).
V
“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth
thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up
unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous
judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them
who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and
immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey
the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, Tribulation and
anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of
the Gentile; But glory, honor, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to
the Jew first, and also to the Gentile” (Ro. 2:4–10).
V
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Ro. 5:8–9).
V
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye
saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ep. 2:4–8).
V
“Not by works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration,
and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus
Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life” (Tit. 3:5–7).
V
“Good and upright is the Lord: therefore, will he teach sinners in the way” (Ps.
25:8).
V
“He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth
is full of the goodness of the Lord” (Ps. 33:5).
V
“Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee” (Ps. 63:3).
V
“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his
righteousness unto children’s children” (Ps. 103:17).
V
“Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord;
for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (Ps. 106:1).
V
“Thou showest lovingkindness unto thousands, and
recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after
them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name” (Je. 32:18).
V
“It is of
the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not” (La.
3:22).
V
“And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I
will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness,
and in mercies” (Ho. 2:19).
V
“And rend your heart, and not your garments, and
turn unto the Lord your God: for he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him
of the evil” (Joel 2:13).
V
“Who is
a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger forever, because he
delighteth in mercy” (Mi. 7:18).
V
“The Lord is
good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in
him” (Na. 1:7).[4]
Amen~
I Will Tell of The Loving-Kindnesses of God. I Will Praise Him for All He Has Done; I Will Rejoice in His Great Goodness to Israel, Which He Has Granted in Accordance with His Mercy and Love.
a 63:9
In all their affliction he
personally saved them, or “The Angel of his Presence saved them out of
their affliction.”
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[3] Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. 1910. Isaiah.
Vol. 2. The Pulpit Commentary. London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company.
[4] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters
36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible.
Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
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