Enduring Mercy

Praise the LORD! Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 106:1

Many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, who read the story of King David in the Old Testament are shocked at his double sins of adultery and ordering the death of Uriah the Hittite. They are even more surprised to learn that David was not punished for his sins in accordance with the statutes of Israel.

According to Leviticus 20:10 and 24:17, the punishment for adultery and murder in Israel was death. (While it was not David’s hand that took the life of Uriah, it was by David’s order that he was killed, so he was certainly responsible.) God forgave David’s sin (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 32), and in doing so, extended mercy to him. We receive mercy when God withholds from us a judgment we deserve (as opposed to grace, which we receive when God gives us favor that we don’t deserve). No wonder David said, “His mercy endures forever,” thirty-three times in Psalms! The basis of God’s mercy toward David was the same as the basis of His mercy toward us: the death of Christ for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Christ took the punishment David deserved.

The next time you sin and are not immediately punished, thank God for His mercy, extended through Jesus Christ.

Mercy, also, is a good thing, for it makes men perfect, in that it imitates the perfect Father.

ST. AMBROSE