That evening it was clear that
Ruth was on the final part of life’s journey.
She was weak but peaceful.
I noticed that she had a number
of devotional books beside her bed. One
of these books was particularly worn. It
was written by the greater preacher, Spurgeon.
As I looked through it, I could see that one page was underlined more
than the rest. It began, ‘meditate a
little on the mercy of God.’ Ruth had
underlined the words tender mercy, great mercy, underserved mercy, rich in
mercy, abounding mercy and unfailing mercy.
This morning’s passage is full of
mercy. I want you to see that God shows
undeserved mercy to his children, even when we fail him, and that this mercy is
the primary reason to obey him.
God
shows mercy to a deceitful man
David had got himself in an awful
mess. Despite the fact that God had
rescued him on many occasions, David doubted God’s faithfulness. He reasoned that Saul was going to kill him,
even though God had promised to make David king. So David went to Gath, the home-place of
Goliath, and offered himself as a mercenary.
He deceived Achish, the king of Gath, by pretending to plunder the
Israelites, when in fact he was attacking other towns and villages.
However, things heat up for David
when the various kings of the Philistines decide that they are going to attach
the Israelites. What is David going to
do? Surely the future king of Israel
cannot fight against his own people! How
is God going to rescue him from this impossible situation?
God rescues David in the most
unusual way. You see, the commanders of
the Philistines are not as naïve about David as Ashish was. The commanders don’t believe that David can
be trusted. They remember how the
Israelites used to celebrate David’s victories over them. So Achish apologetically breaks the news to
David. He is not going to battle against
Israel.
David had doubted God, but God
never stopped being faithful. David had
acted deceitfully, but God remained true.
David had made wrong choices, but God did not give up on his plans for
him. God quietly worked in the
background securing David’s deliverance.
We are great at getting ourselves into messes. We let him down every day. Yet God shows us undeserved mercy.
At one stage on that visit to
Ruth, I read her something about the grace of God, and then said, ‘God is
good.’ She responded with a smile and
declared, ‘he is amazing!’
During the summer holidays, a
mother took her children to the park to break the boredom of looking after the
children at home all day. But what she
saw broke her heart. She saw a young
woman drive up, leap out of her car and virtually skip out of her car to a
table by the lake. Who was the young
woman so excited to be meeting? She
found out as the young woman took out her Bible and began to read. The mother
wondered why her enthusiasm for God had faded, that she no longer delighted to
meet with him.
The next day she took her
children to a Holiday Bible Club and she discovered why her faith had run
dry. When she arrived to pick the
children up the club was running late.
She sat there listening to the children laughing inside. She felt sad as she remembered that Jesus
used to another word to her for joy; when folding her hands in prayer meant you
were talking to God; and when you said, ’Lord, I’m sorry,’ you felt really
forgiven. Then she overheard the words
of the children’s closing song. ‘I will
sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.’ Suddenly she realised that this is what she
had forgotten. Somewhere in the business
of life, along with the sense of guilt that accompanied a thousand failures,
the negligence of a thousand duties, and the pursuit of a million priorities
other than God’s, she had lost her focus on the sheer undeserved mercy that God
lavishly pours out on his children.
‘Affirmation of God’s mercy was the way back into his arms and all the
joy that was there’ (Chapell).
God
shows mercy through an innocent man
God shows mercy to David, and
what David does next is truly audacious.
He has just been told that he will not have to go into battle with his
own people, and he complains! He
protests to Achish, ‘what have I
done? What have you found in your servant
from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight
against the enemies of my lord the King?’ One commentator writes, ‘the cunning
rascal! In fact, David is so cunning at
this point that it is difficult for us
to see what he is up to.’
There may be a hint in these
words of what David is planning. A
couple of chapters ago, David had used the phrase ‘my lord the King’ of King
Saul (when he addressed him outside the cave of Engedi). Perhaps David was planning to march into battle
with the Philistines, and then turn and fight with the Israelites against them. Of course the problem with that plan lies in
what David does not know—Saul is going to be defeated and killed by the
Philistines.
Notice that these verses sound
like a trial. David is being accused,
before an ungodly leader, who protests his innocence, but is too weak to resist. Does that sound familiar? It has been suggested that this scene
anticipates the trial of Jesus, the Son of David, before Pilate. To the commanders of the Philistines, Achish
declares, ‘I have found no fault in him’ (3).
To David, he states, ‘… you have been honest … I have found nothing
wrong in you’ (6). Again, Achish says to
David, ‘I know that you are blameless in my sight as an angel of God’ (9). Similarly, Pilate tells the crowd, ‘I find no
guilt in him’ (John 19:4) and he tells the chief priests and officers, ‘I find
no guilt in him’ (John 19:6). Yet, like
Achish, Pilate gave in.
Achish’s claims that David has
been innocent and honest ring a little hollow.
David had not plundered the Israelites, and so remained true to his
promises to Saul, but he had deceived Achish and doubted God. It is the Jesus, the Son of David, who is the
only blameless one. The Apostle Peter
wrote of Jesus saying, ‘He committed no sin, neither was deceit found
in his mouth’ (1 Peter 2:22; cf. Isaiah 53:9).
God’s undeserved mercy comes to
us through the innocent man. In that
Spurgeon devotional Ruth had written words from the hymn, ‘Man of
sorrows’. ‘Guilty, vile and helpless we,
spotless Lamb of God was he.’ God’s
mercy flows to us because that spotless Lamb of God was sacrificed for our
sin. In a great exchange, God made him
who had no sin, to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of
God. God not only put his sin upon our
shoulders, but treats us as if we live Jesus perfect life.
Conclusion—Mercy
is the motive for holiness
John Bunyan was a great preacher
of God’s mercy, in the sixteen hundreds.
Some of his opponents complained, ’If you keep assuring people of God’s
love they will do whatever they want.’
He replied, ‘If I assure people of God’s love they will do whatever he
wants.’
One of the reasons I want us to
meditate of God’s mercy is that mercy is what motivates us to be holy. The Apostle Paul writes, ‘therefore, I urge
you, in view of God’s mercy, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy
and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.’
It is mercy that motivates
holiness. If we think that God’s love is
conditional on our obedience, then we will end up insecure and resentful. If we allow pride be the motivation for our
holiness, we will change outward behaviours, but our hearts will be cold. A sense of guilt must not be our motivation,
for the Christian confesses their guilt and then rejoices in the mercy of God. But when we truly understand God’s mercy our
hearts will be softened and thankful, and our desire will be to please the one
whose love amazes us.
Therefore, mediate a little on the mercy
of God!
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