By Incline your ear, and come unto me: and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David (Isaiah 55:3).
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever (Psalm 23:6).
King David is one of the more interesting people in the Bible. His life is a record of lofty highs and deep lows. If we will be honest, this sounds much like our lives.
David’s lows include King Saul trying to kill him, his son trying to dethrone him and his own downfall into adultery and murder. His highs include defeating Goliath, overcoming his own sin and being the natural ancestor of Jesus Christ.
How can it possibly be that a man like David could be called “a man after God’s own heart?” This can be for the very same reason that you and I can make it- God’s mercies. One definition of mercy is withholding what we really deserve. Lamentations 3:22 supports this- “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” We enjoy great blessings because of the mercies of the Lord.
All of us- at one time or another- have experienced the pain of failing the Lord. With that pain comes the gnawing feeling that we cannot be restored. David, Jonah and Peter are three examples in Scripture that prove this is not true. These men- and many other people- were restored simply because of the mercies of the Lord. Is anything required of us for this to happen? The answer is “yes.”
Psalm 51:2-4 says, “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” Acknowledgement of our failure and repentance for our sin will be met with the extension of God’s mercy to us. Hear this so beautifully worded in the following verses:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon (Isaiah 55:7).
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy (Proverbs 28:13).
All of us have experienced loneliness. There is not a person who has not had people to just simply check out on them. Hear the words of the psalmist: “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will lift me up.” (Psalm 27:10) We are never totally alone or desolate because of the mercies of the Lord. This is truly a blessing during the down times in our lives.
Truly- at our best- we are deserving of nothing from God Almighty. Yet His blessings are manifested in our lives anyway. In the words of David himself: “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me here. Yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O God; for you have spoken of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and have regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God” (I Chronicles 17: 16-17).
It is wonderful to know that God thinks more highly of us than we sometimes think of ourselves. Let us be thankful for the mercies of the Lord.
Dave Snyder is an Ordained Bishop with the Church of God – Cleveland, Tennessee. Before entering the ministry on a full-time basis, he was a school teacher. He also coached middle school basketball for eight years.
Dave and his wife, Sara, have two children — Craig and Karen. They also have one ten year old granddaughter — Breanna.
Dave and Sara pastored in West Virginia for thirty-six years. Sara is now retired from the banking industry, and Dave is retired from pastoring. However, Dave currently serves as prison Chaplain for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Writing essays, articles, and devotionals is a real passion for Dave. He also enjoys playing musical instruments and singing.
by leaps and bounds 