Thou Art A Gracious And Compassionate God

Thou Art A Gracious And Compassionate God

God teaches us about Himself in His word.    Chapter 9 of the book of Nehemiah teaches us a lot about God’s dealings with Israel as the Israelites confess and worship the LORD their God.    In that chapter they give a general overview of the stubborn sinfulness of the Israelites and what God did to help them get on the right track.    Nehemiah 9:28-31 records,

Many times Thou did rescue them according to Thy compassion, and admonished them in order to turn them back to Thy law.

Yet they acted arrogantly and did not listen to Thy commandments but sinned against Thy ordinances,  by which if a man observes them he shall live.    And they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck, and would not listen.

However, Thou did bear with them for many years, and admonished them by Thy Spirit through the prophets,  yet they would not give ear.

Therefore  Thou didst give them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.    Nevertheless,  in Thy great compassion  Thou didst not make an end of them or forsake them,  for Thou art a gracious and compassionate God.

God has not forsaken us with all our sins either  —  not yet anyway.     God is still the same gracious and compassionate God He has always been.

So, what are we going to do about it?     Should we still beligerently remain in our sins, vainly imagining that since the LORD has not judged us yet, He does not really care what we do in this life?

God certainly is gracious and compassionate to a degree we cannot even fathom.    His forgiveness is overflowing with love and kindness towards us.     It is exactly because God’s grace and compassion towards us is so marvelous, that we should turn to Him in repentance and accept His free gift of forgiveness with humble hearts.

Who are we to be arrogantly disobedient to our ultimate Judge over all?     What is it that makes us think we can defy our holy Creator and get away with it?     Has God been patient with us so long that our hearts are hardened?     Don’t we have any desire for obedience?

In all seriousness, we need to examine ourselves and take a long, hard look at everything in our hearts, minds, and souls.     We will never be able to work our way to heaven through our supposed good works.    But the question is…….

Do we have the faith it takes to be obedient to the LORD God Almighty?

Our lives are in the balance right now.     We can confess our sins and repent of them  (That means knock it off.),  in order to receive full forgiveness  —  or  —  we can continue in our stubborn,  sinful ways and condemn ourselves in the end.

Since God’s grace and compassion are so tenderly loving towards us and our sinful predicament, now would be a good time to experience His love by humbly repenting.

As we let our souls be flooded with God’s love and forgiveness, we say,  “Hallelujah!     My Lord, thank You so much for setting me free from the bonds of sin.     Never let me get so entrapped again.     Protect me by Your mercy.”

Love,  
Margaret

A devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and King of kings…

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