Psalms 145:8-13 NIV
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. All your works praise you, Lord; your faithful people extol you. They tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.”
Psalms 145:8-13 NIV
As the people of God we must daily show our gratefulness to the Lord our God for what He has done on our behalf in setting us free from the penalty of sin of his compassionate love for us. In being gracious and full of compassion, the Lord our God shows us that He is slow to anger and great in His love and mercy towards us.
In the middle verses of this praise psalm, we find four important repeated words:“compassionate/ compassion” vs. 8 & 9, “all” four times in vs. 9 & 10, “works” vs. 9 & 10 and “kingdom” four times in vs. 11, 12, & 13. These repetitions provide us with an outline of which God is exalted both for who He is and for what He does.
There are a lot of traits of God described in various scriptures but there is none that is spoken of more often than is His compassion. As with everything He does, it stems from His character. His compassion is not something that He just puts into practice on occasions but it comes from the fact that God is love. He loves and is therefore filled with mercy which is demonstrated in compassion.
As we study the life of Jesus, we see those caught up in sin, or some trying to trap Him in His Words or when He looked over the multitude or wept over Jerusalem and was filled with compassion. Jesus healed the sick, taught the lost and encouraged the weak because of His compassion toward them.
We might would have wanted to get even with someone or retaliate toward them for doing us harm. Or we might have jumped on the bandwagon of thought and condemned others for the things they were doing instead of truly feeling sorry for them and wanting to help them.
It is easy for us to be impatient, filled with anger, frustration or harsh judgment toward others and especially when we see them as being different or we disagree with them on some major topic, that is major to us at the time. Just maybe our problem is that we have not learned to love as God loves us so we don’t seek to forgive others when possible.
People of God, this text is a reminder to all of us that we have a responsibility to be gracious to others as God is towards us. Loving God means loving others graciously. Thank You Lord for Your unfailing grace, mercy and compassionate love that is indeed unsearchable but believable with evidence at Calvary Cross over 2000 years ago!!!
Father, thank You for this day and Your life changing Word. Lord, let Your abundant blessings flow over my friend and family today. Forgive us for not loving others as You love us. Lord, forgive us for not being filled with the mercy, compassion and grace You have shown us in so many ways. Keep us from being bitter, harsh, unkind, unloving and unforgiving as we face those around us who actually deserve these feelings. Help us be like You as You love us and extend Your grace and forgiveness to us, even do not deserve it. Lord, use my us to encourage those who are weak and help those who are struggling today.
Father, we love you. Amen.!
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