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He is slow
to anger and His mercies are everlasting. The Psalmist had precious revelation about the Lord. And he also tell us that He does not chastise us according to our iniquities. When we are genuinely born again, it is our privilege to receive the chastisement that is needed because we are "sons." It is a wonderful thing and although the flesh hates it, it is one of the evidences of His vast love. The enemy is always lingering about to steal anything he can, and accuse. He wants to absorb the moment and distract from the experience of the value, so he whispers in that greedy little tone that we are being punished because we have done something wrong. That is entirely different from the chastisement of the Lord. I have even heard Christians name a particular weakness or unwise choice and claim that their illness or other woes have been visited on them as punishment. The Lord does not deal with us in that manner. Moreover, deciding that He does implies we are authorities on the punishment that the offense deserves and we have no right to do that. He deals with us according to His righteousness, not according to our iniquities. He never tires of the discipline for our good, but He is not a tit-for-tat God and it is a grave mistake to exalt ourselves to the level of deciding why everything is happening. While He attends to us firmly, "He doth remember that we are dust." And for that I am most grateful. I am imperfect, but have been rescued and bought back by the Perfect One. He is watching and training me and preparing me for eternity, and day by day I must learn to trust Him. So, because the Bible says so, I know He will be merciful and while many sins have self-contained bites that intrinsically punish the one who touches them, He will lead me by His sweet presence, not by divine cattle prod. |
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