Isaiah 10:4
“Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.”
Five times in the Book of Isaiah, God makes the statement, “…but his hand is stretched out still.” What a powerful statement that God would express mercy in spite of our wickedness and His judgment. It is God’s mercy that keeps us from being destroyed. Lamentations 3:22 remind us, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” Christian, it is because of the LORD’s mercy that “his hand is stretched out still.” God’s expressed mercy should behoove every child of God to take hold of the stretched out hand of God. Five things can be learned from God’s hand of mercy.
First, mercy is not an absence of judgment. You will notice that it was in the midst of judgment that God expressed His mercy. The purpose of mercy is to keep the judgment from destroying the individual. You must not think that you must no longer punish someone because of mercy. The exact opposite is what should be practiced. Judgment for sin committed must be executed, but mercy should follow after the sentence has been declared.
Second, mercy is an act of love that is held in check by judgment. Love has caused many people to overlook sin, but judgment is what keeps love in its proper place. You must understand that mercy and judgment work together to help the sinner turn their life around. If you allow both to work together, you will find it more profitable in keeping the sinner from continually committing the same sin.
Third, mercy reaches out to a changed heart. It is interesting that God didn’t force Himself on those who were being judged, but He held His hand out for them to take at their choosing. Whenever you are punishing someone for wrong, you will learn if they are truly repentant if they will grab your stretched out, merciful hand and ask for help. It is vitally important not to force yourself on the punished, but make yourself available to them. A changed heart will grab the merciful hand and ask for help.
Fourth, mercy keeps judgment from becoming personal. God’s judgment on these countries was not personal, but He had to judge the sin. Mercy was His proof that it wasn’t a personal attack against them. The only way to keep judgment from becoming personal is to express mercy to those who are being punished. If you love someone, you will find it won’t be hard to exercise mercy. If you judge without expressing mercy, your judgment will become personal and will destroy the individual.
Fifth, mercy is not a license to sin. Just because God or an individual is exercising mercy towards you doesn’t give you a right to continue in sin. Don’t mistake mercy for weakness. Mercy is the expression of love that wants to help the offender through their time of punishment. Mercy will never excuse sin, but it will give you the grace to endure it and come through sin’s punishment as gold.
Judgment is one of the areas that will reveal the depth of your Christianity. It will be revealed by whether or not you use mercy and judgment together. If you want to help people overcome sin, you are going to have to let mercy and judgment work together.