April 23, 2020 -- Psalm 119:156 -- Do you know boundless mercy?

Great is your mercy, O LORD,

give me life according to your rules.

Psalm 119:156 English Standard Version

Can you agree with the Psalmist that the LORD is great in mercy? What evidence is there of His great mercy?

He Who knows all our sins, even our sinful thoughts, (Psalm 139:1-4) forgives us in Christ.

He Who knows the full measure of all our wrong-doing and while we are still sinners has provided salvation for us in Christ (Romans 5:8).

He Who knows the repetitive nature of our sins, what we begged forgiveness for in the morning we are prepared to sin again in the evening. Yet Jesus taught His disciples to forgive seventy-seven times (Matthew 18:22). If our Master taught us to forgive in this way, we know this is possible only because He is the source of all forgiveness and is Himself great in mercy!

Two verses ago the writer pleaded with God: “give me life according to your promise!” Today we read a parallel prayer: “give me life according to your rules (or more accurately translated from the Hebrew ‘your judgments’).

First off, you need to know that the Name of God used in our passage LORD means life. He alone is Self-Existent Life and has life in Him to create life or raise someone to life.

Second, note that based on the fact He is Life, the Psalmist pleads for life.

Third, the Psalmist asks for life based on God’s judgments. In the past verse the Psalmist held onto the promises of God that He would remember our sins no more. Now the Psalmist is praying based on the fact that the LORD has smashed down His gavel of judgment and declared our sins forgiven and new life to be ours because of Jesus Christ.

Imagine a scene where grandma has her grandson Tommy visiting. Grandma has a makeshift planter box green-house. As is her annual custom, she is growing seedlings to be ready for the first frost-free days. Tommy, angry at a friend who didn’t want to play with him, smashes the glass of grandma’s little greenhouse. Grandma was at the sink doing breakfast dishes and saw the whole thing. Though sad at the broken glass and crushed seedlings, she said nothing.

At supper Tommy, feeling queasy and unable to eat, blurts out, “Grandma, I broke your greenhouse!”. He runs off to his room. A little while later, after the storm of tears, grandma goes up to see Tommy in his room. “Tommy, I know you broke the greenhouse. I saw it while I was doing dishes.”

With dripping eyes and nose and tousled hair Tommy turns to his grandma. Surprised. Thoughts flood through his mind: Why didn’t she run out and stop me? Why didn’t she scold me immediately?

Great questions. When Tommy knew he had sinned, violated his grandma’s trust and love, he needed to realize the weight of what he’d done and confess it. Grandma was prepared to wait so that his confession would not be premature. When he confessed, she forgave. The plants were still destroyed. So she required Tommy to help her clean up. He paid for some of the new seeds. He helped replant these seeds. And they went together to get new glass (which she paid for because it was too expensive for him). He realized the cost of what he’d done in time, money and investment of his own energy.

This is but a slight illustration of God’s infinitely greater mercy. He forgives us in Christ. He waits for us to acknowledge our sins and confess them. Then He calls us to rebuild relationships. He calls us to make restitution. Over and above this all, in His great mercy, He walks with us in love. He reminds us by His Spirit that no matter our sins, He is our Father. He Who began a great work of salvation in us will see it to completion (Philippians 1:6).

Father of all mercies we confess before You this morning how many precious truths we have smashed, how many beautiful paths of righteousness we have torn up by our ravenous sinfulness. Help us, by Your Spirit, to perceive our sins and be moved to confess them. Thank You for Jesus, Your Son, our Savior, Who has taken away our sin. Thank You for life and hope and strength. Thank You for the glorious Spirit Who works in us Your reviving love, Your strength to to work for good so that relationships can be restored and rebuilt for Your glory. Whatever is yet unconfessed and weighing down our souls we pray embolden us to recognize these sins, to confess them and to take hold of the ever fuller, new life that is held out to us in Christ Jesus our King. Amen.