Showing Mercy
Sometimes we just want to see justice.
When he is judged, let him be found guilty, and let his appeal be in vain. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife become a widow. Let his children be waifs and beggars; let them be driven from the ruins of their homes. Let the creditor seize everything he has; let strangers plunder his gains. Let there be no one to show him kindness, and none to pity his fatherless children. Let his descendants be destroyed, and his name be blotted out in the next generation. Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, and his mother's sin not be blotted out; Let their sin be always before the LORD; but let him root out their names from the earth; Because he did not remember to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy and sought to kill the brokenhearted. - Psalm 109:6-15
In today's reading, the Psalmist seeks justice in a big way.
He is praying for judgment to come for someone who failed to show mercy, someone who persecuted the poor.
Who wouldn't agree that such a person should be judged harshly?
But the message is all about showing mercy, so it begs to ask the question, should the one who has persecuted others be shown mercy when he makes an appeal for his life?
The psalmist starts out saying his appeal should be in vain.
Where is the mercy in that?
There is a reason mercy is left to God. God knows how to dispense it; we don't.
We are too emotional when it comes to judgment and mercy. Like the psalmist, we feel for the persecuted and we seek to damn those who we see as evil.
But what about them? What do we do when someone who has done horrible things seeks mercy?
Jesus taught his disciples to look beyond the sins and see the man, to see past the demons and the sickness and cure the soul.
This is how we should be, and yet it is very hard to do.
Perhaps the psalmist wants us to see ourselves in this lament for justice. He wants us to remember when we seek justice for ourselves or others that we can direct our emotion away from God. We can be cruel, seeking to punish rather than redeem.
Mercy is not about getting away with a crime or sin. It is about having a pathway back. It is grace and love and an outstretched hand.
Are we strong enough and willing to show mercy?
Maybe. Maybe not.
More to come...