June 2021 Devotional: He could Bear their misery no longer

 

Judges 10:16

 

 So they removed the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer

Israel had blown it.  

Again.

They were worshiping foreign Gods after being told over and over by great leaders like Moses and Joshua to NOT serve any other gods.  They were only to serve the LORD

You know the one that delivered them from Egypt, kept them fed and clothed for 40 years in the wilderness, and who brought them into the land he had promised to their ancestors. 

Sadly they forgot all that and abandoned the Lord.  

God doesn't play second string to anybody so the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon.  They harassed the Israelites for 18 years and Israel was severely distressed (Judges 10:8-9)

The people realized they were wrong and repented to the Lord for their idolatry and he says to them

"Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” (Judges 10:14)

Yikes.  

This does not sound like it's going to end well for the Israelites but it does because the Lord is merciful.  They realized their mistake, put away their foreign gods, and returned to the Lord.

The Lord Has New Mercy for us every day

And he could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

This passage struck me because I thought, "What a merciful and compassionate God we serve".  I immediately thought of the words of Jeremiah in Lamentations

Lamentations 3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.

The Lord has mercy on us every day and each day his mercies begin afresh and they are new mercies for THAT DAY.

Practical Application: Embrace the Lord's mercy

I don't know about you but I can't talk too much about the Israelites because I blow it too.  

Constantly.  Every day.

Whether it's impatience with others, lack of faith, or being prideful and wanting to be right, I'm constantly blowing it.

Yet I remind myself that the Lord has mercy on me every single day.  This is still a hard concept for me because the God I grew up hearing about was writing everything down and out to catch people making mistakes so he could punish them and send them to Hell.

This compassion and the merciful thing weren't talked about as much.

However in this passage of scripture we see our long-suffering God having mercy on Israel yet again even though they had blown it yet again.  

They also did their part by putting away the foreign gods and crying out to the Lord

What do you need to put away? 
What do you need to cry out to the Lord about?
How can you practically embrace the Lord's mercy in your own life?

Action Step

Spend some time reflecting on mistakes you've made and think about a situation where you have witnessed the Lord extends his mercy to you.  

A few years ago I made some very poor financial decisions. I realized my mistake and decided to put away the idea that someone had the answers to help me build my business. I repented for putting too much trust in people.

I resolved that I would make God the Chairman of the Board for my finances and he would get first say.  Mercifully God sent people that helped me to resolve the issue much faster than had I had to do everything on my own.

I learned my lesson but I also learned that even when I make really bad choices, the Lord is merciful and the Lord is faithful.

The Lord's mercy and faithfulness don't mean we won't have to face consequences and pay for our mistakes but it does mean that He doesn't give us what we actually deserve.

Prayer

God, we thank you for your compassion on us and that it never fails.  Lord, we thank you for new mercies every day.  Father, we pray not to walk in self-condemnation and judgment but we pray to walk in grace and truth.  Lord, we thank you for Jesus who paid the price for our sins to bring us into a relationship with you.  That was the ultimate act of compassion and mercy.  Lord, we pray to extend that same mercy to others that you extend to us.  In Jesus' name, Amen.