Skip to main content

Mercy

             I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, for we have endured no end of contempt. We have endured no end of ridicule from the arrogant, of contempt from the proud. (Psalm 123)

 

          Jesus told us that if we believed, we could ask whatever we wished, and it would be done for us. That seems a long way from looking up to God as a slave to a master. And in our modern culture, we tend to like the ask-receive pattern rather than the look-receive. The former makes us feel more in control. It makes us feel as though we are the master, and that God is supposed to leap from His throne and slide down some supernatural fire-pole the moment we voice a whim.

The image of the slave looking up to the master brings to mind the pitiful look dogs and cats can give - they look, and they look, and your heart melts - or you get fed up with it and give them something so they’ll go away. Sometimes, we wish they could talk so they could tell us what they want, but they just keep looking.

The other thing about servants is that others ignore them, look down their noses at them, or abuse them. This is at least one of the reasons for the “puppy dog eyes” to look to God to give mercy as they endure the contempt of others. What the mercy will look like is up to God, but we may expect it from him rather than from the arrogant and proud.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Right Road

          Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)                  For years before GPSes existed, I told people I wanted something in my car that would tell me, “Turn left in half a mile…turn left in a quarter mile…turn left in 500 feet… turn left in 100 feet…turn left now …You missed the turn, Dummy!” The problem isn’t necessarily that I get lost so much as I’m afraid I’ll get lost. I don’t want to have to spend my whole trip stressing over the next turn. I have the same problem with my spiritual journey.   
Post a Comment
Read more

Died as a Ransom

                 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)                  This is something I’d really rather not think about but here it is and it’s important. I was reading in Bold Love about seeking revenge.  The author wrote of seeking justice when a supposed Christian does something sinful, harmful, and/or horrific, like sexually abusing a daughter.  And the thought that came to mind was of God asking if Jesus’ death was sufficient payment to me for the sin committed against me.                I have no specific longing for revenge, vengeance, or justice. I’m sure there are some lurking somewhere in my heart, but this wasn’t a response to one. It was more a question of principle. Jesus’ death was sufficient payment for to God for our sins.  That’s the standard Sunday Schoo
1 comment
Read more

Hearts

                    Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it . (Proverbs 4:23) The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. (Matthew 23:27)           We all like to see ourselves as pretty good folks. We’re not perfect. We may even admit that we are sinners saved by grace, but we’re not murderers, rapists, or abusers of children, women, or animals. Some of us alternate this view with the conviction that we are miserable, worthless worms who can’t do anything right, but at least we’re not murderers, rapists, or abusers of children, women, or animals. You can add whatever horrible thing that you don’t do to the list. It always proves that we aren’t as bad as we could be.  At the very least, our int
Post a Comment
Read more