Recovery Devotional 324 Justice is Blind, But Mercy can See

JMD Devotional 324 2 Samuel 14 Justice is Blind, But Mercy can See

Absalom, one of David’s sons, was in exile, having fled to another country after he killed another of the king’s sons (from a different mother), Amnon, for raping his sister Tamar. While David grieved over the loss of Amnon, he also grieved over his estranged Absalom for three years.

1-8 NOW JOAB son of Zeruiah knew that the king's heart was toward Absalom. And Joab sent to Tekoah and brought from there a wise woman and said to her, Pretend to be a mourner; put on mourning apparel, do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has long been mourning for the dead. And go to the king and speak thus to him. And Joab told her what to say.

When the woman of Tekoah spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king! The king asked her, What troubles you? She said, I am a widow; my husband is dead. And your handmaid had two sons, and they quarreled with one another in the field. There was no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.

And behold, our whole family has risen against your handmaid, and they say, Deliver him who slew his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he slew; and so they would destroy the heir also. And so quenching my coal which is left, they would leave to my husband neither name nor remnant upon the earth. David said to the woman, Go home, and I will give orders concerning you.

13,14 [She] said, Why then have you planned such a thing against God's people? For in speaking this word the king is like one who is guilty, in that [he] does not bring home his banished one.

We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again. And God does not take away life, but devises means so that he who is banished may not be an utter outcast from Him.

We have all broken the Law of God, and justly deserve to die for our sins. Justice is blindfolded, and makes no exceptions. If you have lied, stolen (irrespective of the value of the thing), murdered (even hated), disrespected your parents, failed to keep the Sabbath, have put anything above your esteem of and commitment to God, if you have strongly desired and envied your neighbor’s possessions, then you are guilty as a law-breaker. If you die in your sins you can look forward to judgment and eternal damnation. Contemplate appearing before a Holy God and seeing all of your supposed ‘good works’ burn up like so much trash in His radiant presence. The whole human race deserves to die, eternally banished from the Father! But our Heavenly Father did not want the ember of humanity to be utterly snuffed out, and worked out a long-shot salvation whereby a remnant of mankind could be saved. He has devised the means to bring us back to Himself through Jesus Christ, through the substitutionary death on a cross of a sinless sacrifice. But for this to make any difference in your outcome, you must appropriate it through faith and receive Jesus as your lifeline. You are either in Christ (under mercy), or under judgment. And if you are really in Christ, you stay in Christ and obey Him as Lord.

Hebrews 2:3,4 How shall we escape [appropriate retribution] if we neglect and refuse to pay attention to such a great salvation [as is now offered to us, letting it drift past us forever]? For it was declared at first by the Lord [Himself], and it was confirmed to us and proved to be real and genuine by those who personally heard [Him speak]. [Besides this evidence] it was also established and plainly endorsed by God, Who showed His approval of it by signs and wonders and various miraculous manifestations of [His] power and by imparting the gifts of the Holy Spirit [to the believers] according to His own will.

Dear God,

Every man thinks he wants ‘justice’ until he understands the implications and the consequences of his own sin. Justice terrifies me! I have no defense apart from my Lord Jesus Christ. The evidence is stacked against me, I have no alibi, the jury calls for my blood. When I am on trial for murder, You are the attorney I crave. You are in fact Judge, Jury and Defense Attorney; unless I am foolish enough to represent my self; then I’m doomed! I rest my case in Your hands.

Amen

All (but*) quotes are from The Amplified Bible, published by

the Lockman Foundation. (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

*New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

**Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. (Eugene Peterson's easy-to-read, contemporary Scripture translation)

I originally produced these blogs between 2006 and 2007, which were then published in my book, JMD Recovery Devotionals. In 2010, I am sending these out to a few people as I review them and see if my point of view has changed.

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