“Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
Psalm 77:9 (NIV)
This psalmist is in a terrible spot.
The questions in verse 7 through 9 come from the depths of his despair,
as his prayers go unanswered.
as his prayers go unanswered.
These questions are rhetorical in nature, for they are answered by the story of how God has dealt with His people up until now as told on the pages of the Law.
This is no mere literary device, for asking these questions help the psalmist to fix his mind on remembering how God has acted in the past,
which will be used by God to bring him out of his despair.
which will be used by God to bring him out of his despair.
The asking of questions about God’s character that we already know the answers to, serve as a tool against the doubts and thoughts that swirl in our minds as despair grips us.
Many times, these thoughts are unspoken, often we are too afraid to speak them aloud, but by verbalizing them we can see the foolishness in the questions themselves.
The Lord will never reject those who are in Christ!
This is the year of the Lord’s favour - His grace abounds to us.
His unfailing love cannot by definition vanish.
Nor can His promises ever fail, for they are all Yes in Christ.
God is merciful and He cannot forget Himself, nor act apart from who He is.
The last one is the hardest for us, for many of us in dire situations are secretly afraid that God is angry with us – and that His anger is holding back His hand that if released to move in our favour could heal us and release us from our distress.
Friend, is God angry with Christ? Are you not “in Christ”?
Then how could God ever be angry with us again.
He disciplines us in love, not in anger.
He will be compassionate - He will move in love to deliver us.
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