A HEART OF COMPASSION

A HEART OF COMPASSION FROM THE FATHER

David the son of Jesse recognized and acknowledged God’s heart of compassion (Ps 86:15) “But You O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.” He goes further to ask God to show him a sign for good (V. 17) “ Show me a sign for good, that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed, because  You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” God’s heart is forever full of compassion, gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth as that is His nature and His character forever as He neither changes nor fails but comforts those that are His and shames their enemies.

A CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC OF GOD

He is called, the God of compassion: (2 Cor. 1:3) “Blessed be the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” He is known as the God of compassion, The God of all comfort and the Father of mercies. So our God shows compassion and gives mercy.  See also (Exod. 34:6) “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth.” This is a Scripture that we have seen several times as God proclaims a heart of compassion to His servant Moses.  Again (Ps. 103:8) “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” Our God is full of compassion and abounds in mercy. And also (Jon. 4:2) “So he prayed to the Lord and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tar shish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, One who relents from doing harm.”  Even Jonah the arrogant prophet acknowledged God’s full compassion and abundance mercy who forgives any sinner who humbles himself before Him.

GOD IS FULL OF COMPASSION

Our God is a compassionate God who is full of compassion (Ps. 116:5) “Gracious is the Lord and righteous; yes, our God is merciful.” He is merciful and compassionate in all His ways. James wrote concerning Job thus (Jas. 5:11) “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord- that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” What our God hates is murmuring and complaining but if we remain faithful, humble before Him patiently, He is full of compassion and abundant in mercy, as His compassion is from age to age (Lam.3:22) “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not.” They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Though the abominations of the children of Israel abhorred God in His anger, yet He did not consume them completely. Beloved, only if we can learn to hope in Him and wait patiently, then by this we will be assured of His salvation, His abundant mercies and His full compassion which fails not but are renewed every morning   

GOD’S EXPRESSIONS OF COMPASSION

God first expressed His compassion to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they sinned against Him (Gen. 3:15) “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”  Because of God’s express compassion, Adam and Eve were not consumed by God; but due to their disobedience, they did suffer the consequences. (b) God expressed His second compassion to the Israelites in Egypt (Exod. 3:7) And the Lord said, “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.”  Because of God’s concern that the heathen nations should receive their full measure of justice, His own people would experience the oppression of the Egyptian nation. Affliction took the form of harsh labor imposed upon the Israelites, as well as a policy of infanticide. The promise of God to His people is that He is ever present with them in unusual way in their suffering. Because in their entire affliction He was afflicted” (Isa. 63:9) “In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His Presence saved them; And He bore them and carried them all the days of old.”  At the point when Israel’s afflictions became unbearable they cried for help, God responded in faithfulness to His promise. (c) His third expression of compassion was shown to the Israelites in the desert (Neh. 9:17-21) “They refused to obey, and they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them, but they hardened their necks, and in their rebellion they appointed a leader to return to their bondage. But You are God, ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness, and did not forsake them. “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, and said, ‘This is your god that brought you up out of Egypt,’ and worked great provocations, yet in Your manifold mercies, You did not forsake them in the wilderness, the pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, to lead them on the road; nor the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way they should go. You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.” This is extremely how God expressed His mercy to His Children who did not walk humbly with Him nor with His servant Moses in the wilderness but always rebelled, complained and murmured. 

GOD’S LOVE AND COMPASSION IS GREATER THAN SIN

In spite of all their stiff-naked manner of life they lived; when their enemies oppressed them, they groaned to Him and He did show compassion (Judg. 2:18) “And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them.”  The Hebrew word which is translated, “moved to pity” does not denote a complete change of heart on the part of God. As God is compassionate toward His people at all time. Ever since God had entered into a covenant with Israel at the time of Abraham, and again with Moses, His main purpose was to be their God and they were to be His people. But God had given notice to His people in the book of Deuteronomy 28, that if they disobeyed Him, and did not live according to the covenant, then He would have to discipline them. However, if they did live according to the covenant, then He would bless them as a nation. And throughout Judges the pattern occurs that when the people forgot God another nation would come down upon them as an act of judgment from God. And when the people turn to God, He also would turn and “hear” them and “pity” them and bring deliverance.  In thus turning and pitying His people, God wonderfully manifested the reliability and perpetuity of His promise to the nation as His promise to the Ephraimites (Hos. 11:9) “I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God and not man, the Holy One in Your midst; and I will not come with terror.”

GOD’S HEART TO THE ISRAELITES IN EXILE

The Lord’s words of assurance to His people in exile (Isa. 53:7-8) “For a mare moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.”  Though He hid His face for a moment because of the people’s sin, but His heart of compassion is forever more. See also (Jer. 42:11-12) “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid; do not be afraid of him,’ says the Lord, ‘for I am with you, to save you and deliver you from his hand. And I will show you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and cause you to return to your own land.”

HIS HEART OF COMPASSION TO ALL OF US AS SINNERS

This is seen from the psalmist prayer (Ps. 51:1) “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving-kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.” When the son of Jesse acknowledged his sins, he cried to God for compassion and mercy according to His tender mercies. See also (Ps. 103:8-13) “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far as He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.” And prophet Micah declared (Mic. 7:19) “He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”  God’s heat of compassion expressed also to the foreigners and the oppressed (Exod. 22:27) “For that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What will he sleep in? And it will be that when he cries to Me, I will hear, for I am gracious.”  See also (Deut. 10:18-19) “He administers justice to the fatherless, and widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

I thank You Righteous Father, for Your abounding mercy and Your Heart full of compassion. Grant me Your grace to abound in mercy and a heart full of compassion to fellow brethren.

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”