Exodus 33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
This passage of scripture teaches us that it is God's prerogative to show mercy to whomsoever He so chooses, for mercy is not an inherent right or entitlement, but rather a gift which God dispenses to members of the human family at His discretion. One of the attitudes we often harbor is that we have a right to God's grace, and for this reason God is often put on the spot in our minds, and called upon to explain certain things He permits on the earth, as if He must give account for His actions. It is this attitude more than anything else that causes many people to reject the writings of the Old Testament in favor of the New, for in their minds, there are instances where the God of the old Testament did some things which He did not explain, for example when entire provinces were blotted out of existence, together with old and young alike. Let's read:
1st Samuel 15:1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
In the above instance, God does give a reason for His actions, for the warlike tribe of Amalek had preyed on the weakest of the weak as the Hebrews were traveling through the wilderness, and although God had borne long with their perversity, yet they never showed any remorse for sins committed, but instead went deeper into iniquity and idolatry. But even these apparently valid reasons do not address the fundamental truth that it is God's prerogative to administer mercy as He so pleases. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and because of this God is perfectly justified if He so chose to destroy us, but because He delights in mercy, and isn't willing that any should perish, He sent Jesus into the world to save as many as would be saved.
This is a very important point we should often dwell upon, for the righteous in ages past had a correct understanding of this sacred truth, and their attitudes were molded by the thought of God's unmerited grace and mercy. After Jacob deceived his father and obtained the birthright by fraud, he was forced into exile on account of the deadly threats of Esau, who was bent on revenge, and when he was commanded to return to his home country, he began to worry and to be afraid that he would now have to face the music, when he learned that his brother Esau was approaching with four hundred soldiers. In his dire predicament he appealed to the God of heaven to spare his life, but he did not do so on the basis of entitlement, but rather as one who was entirely dependent on God to show mercy which was not deserved. Let's read:
Genesis 32:9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
The same is true of us Christians who have been saved by the grace and mercies of God, for it was not anything good that we have done to merit God's grace and favor, but strictly because of His tender mercy why we are not consumed. Like Jacob we also did some terrible things in our past; the promiscuity and flirting indulged and practiced, the pornography, the marijuana the partying, the clubbing, the cursing, the fighting, the pride, the gossiping, the backstabbing the movies, the cheating of the IRS, the gambling, the smoking, and the general idolatry, pride and godlessness indulged in times past, all serve to render us ineligible for the least of God's mercies, and therefore it should be with a humble spirit and contrite heart, that we should like Jacob, approach the throne of grace, and implore God to save and cleanse us.
When the right attitude towards God's mercy is cultivated and harbored, we will not fall into the snare of taking His grace for granted, but will like Jacob, make the most of the new lease on life that He has given us, by walking in obedience to the laws we once trampled upon, and trusting in the merits and righteousness of Christ alone to save us from our sins. We therefore end with a passage of scripture which reaffirms this sacred truth, and it is the will of God that we often stop to ponder His unmerited grace and mercy He bestows on us each day. Let's read:
Romans 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
May God add His blessing to the study and practice of His word. "Good night' and God bless!