Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. (Ps. 51:1)
On what basis does God act? There is no answer but character. God acts in accordance with His character.
Theology, noble enterprise and inseparable from living, tells us God is the highest possible conception. Yet, how do we trust these minds of ours to know what that is, or to know it is not self-serving? "God told me" is all too often the same as "I sure would like to do this."
Back to character. And back to Scripture. Yet, God is not a book, and "the letter kills but the spirit gives life." Scripture is astounding, and a lifetime with it leaves one in wonder. Yet, the Living Word is both written and living and when we think of the character of God we must go to the expression of Himself to which all Scripture points: the Incarnation.
This is character writ large and writ in our language. Who abandons privilege, who suffers- with, who submits to the worst ignominy to deliver ungrateful and undeserving subjects?
The God of the Bible does. That is His character.
According to...chesed: lovingkindness, tender mercies. "Because this is the kind of God you are, and in light of the fact I am wholly subject to you, have mercy on me."
How do you see God? Is he like us, out to get the offending person? Or is his character in keeping with one who willingly took on our flesh so he could "rob our sins and make us holy?"* Is he out to get you or out to restore His image in you?
Today, in this very moment, I know nothing more than to dare to believe in the mercy of God that endures forever. That is who He is and I can trust Him to be infinitely good with me.
* Chris Rice "Welcome to Our World." In a world filled with lyrics and music, this is one of the finest I have ever heard.
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