The Lord is awe-inspiring, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Psalm 51:1-3,
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
Our Lord delights in justice. In Jeremiah 9:24 he says, “Let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.” When the Lord revealed himself to Moses on Mt. Sinai he said of himself, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7.
Both of these passages speak to the commitment and priority God has placed on his piercing sense of justice. However, both of these passages also speak to the kindness, compassion, grace and love God has for people as well. As we discover what God is like in the pages of Scripture we find he is committed to both of these aspects of his character. What is remarkable is that he never expresses one at the expense of the other: his great love for mankind and his profound sense of justice he will hold mankind to.
David, facing the wrath of God for sin in his life, his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, appeals to God’s “unfailing love” and compassion. He requests his iniquity and sin be washed and cleansed. This is exactly what God will do for David. It is also exactly what God does for us as well. He washes and cleanses our sin, but not, however, at the expense of his sense of justice! He has satisfied his keen sense of justice by laying our sins at the feet of his Son to take our punishment for them!
How fascinating that in God’s judgment of our sin, his love is on display and in his love for us he never acts in a way that compromises his justice!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We’d love to hear from you!
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