Mercy For All

"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple."

Jonah 2:7

These are words of the prophet Jonah after he was swallowed by the great fish God prepared for him.  We do not read of him seeking the LORD in prayer when he fled from the presence of God or even on the tempest-tossed ship.  It was as his life ebbed away in pitch-black darkness he remembered the LORD and prayed.  When his soul fainted Jonah finally relented and begged God to save him.  God was ready and waiting to do so, for the LORD spoke to the fish that expelled him on dry land.

God brought Jonah to a place of crying out for mercy, a place Jonah was unwilling and unable to find on his own.  What God did for His prophet He also did for the children of Israel through war.  Lamentations 5:20-22 expresses well the feelings of hopelessness Jeremiah felt after the atrocities he witness and experienced during the siege of Jerusalem:  "Why do You forget us forever, and forsake us for so long a time? ²¹ Turn us back to You, O LORD, and we will be restored; renew our days as of old, ²² unless You have utterly rejected us, and are very angry with us!"  Jeremiah wept over the suffering of his people, and his expectations shattered with the knowledge God could deliver them but did not.

Jeremiah felt forgotten and forsaken, but this was not the case.  God was actually answering Jeremiah's prayer for Him to "Turn us back to You, O LORD" by the fiery trial He allowed by sending His servant king Nebuchadnezzar to take people captive and destroy the city--including the temple.  For a long time God's people had drawn near to Him with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him.  Like a loving father disciplines the son he loves, God chose the Babylonians as His instrument to chasten His people to remember Him, to return to Him so they could be restored, for renewal and revival.  God allowed Job to suffer, not to destroy him for his guilt due to sin, but to demonstrate His mercy and compassion to all.

Jeremiah desired restoration by deliverance from the trial, but that is often the means of God's refinement.  A principle under the Law of Moses was all spoils of war that could endure fire must be purified by fire before they could be possessed, and whatever could not survive the fire was to be washed in water (Numbers 31:21-24).  By faith in God His people are of Him and thus enabled to endure fiery trials that work for our refinement and restoration.  In the midst of trials we might feel forgotten or forsaken by God, and this ought to prompt us to seek the LORD.  In departing from God and trusting in lies we forsake our own mercy, for God is faithful to hear and save all who cry out to Him.

We faint; we forget God.  God does not faint, nor does He forget.  Psalm 30:4-5 reads, "Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. ⁵ For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."  The trials and troubles we desperately want to avoid or see ended immediately God brings us through according to His mercies, faithfulness and love.  We are only sojourners in the valley of the shadow of death and need fear no evil for God is with us to protect and provide for us.  Praise the LORD all the time, the living God who has accepted us into the beloved according to the riches of His grace.