mercy from a thousand directions

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Moody’s my guy. I grew up reading his sermons, learning about his life, quoting him, reading stories about him. D.L. is my categorical “can’t wait to meet him when I get to heaven” people.

One of my favorite anecdotes was when Mr. Moody had an encounter with the Lord far too wonderful for words. Older saints would call it the “baptism of the Holy Spirit” or a “deeper experience of faith.” To describe that New York City event he borrowed an illustration from his childhood. Young Moody’s job for the family was to fetch water when the well ran dry. Now as an adult living on that same property, he remembered back when he had to carry pails of water to and from that spring. He got smart and laid pipes from the source to the house and just let the water come to him!

I was all the time tugging and carrying water. But now I have a river that carries me.

Moody said the rivers of heaven deluged him with the manifold love of God. It felt like tides and waves of mercy coming from every direction, so much so he begged God to make it stop!

‘Ah, what a day! I cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it, it is almost too sacred an experience to name. Paul had an experience of which he never spoke for fourteen years. I can only say God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand.’”

Now that’s some mercy!

Moses got a jolly good dose of it when he asked for a vision and God gave him a VIP seat to the greatest show on earth. His request is not for more fireworks, thunder, blood, wind, locusts, armies, manna, or burning bushes. He wanted something more personal, so God did a really cool thing: he said “Do you really want to see me, Moses? I can’t do that because it would kill you; the weight of it would crush you.”

“However, this is what I’ll do… I’ll send a tidal wave of a thousand mercies at you ALL AT ONCE, the likes of which you’ll never, ever forget.”

Oh yes, some of that, please.

I imagine in eternity during one of our chats with Jesus, he will take us back to a moment on earth when we were going to work or headed to the mall. He’ll describe that day to a tee and tell us there were maybe four or five different times we could have been injured or worse but he dispatched angels of mercy to protect us. I like to think about stuff like that.

For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. Psalm 130:7, ESV

Why don’t we hear this psalm quoted more often? I cannot recall the last time I heard/used this verse as a text in a sermon. It’s powerful. It’s delightful. What a promise!

My only low-key gripe with the Passion translation (photo at the top) is why did it stop at 1000? Why not 10,000… (hmm, sounds like a song Matt Redman should write) Or 1 trillion? I get that it’s poetic, and I quickly back away from my soft criticism. Truth told, I love how its lyrical gentility sits on my tongue:

“He has a thousand ways to set you free!”

Of course we all know he has way more than a thousand mercies at any given moment. I like how John Piper puts it: “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”

With God are “plentiful redemption[s].” Beloved saint, worry not; you have not, nor will you ever, use up your quota of rescues at the hand of the Father! He longs to show you mercy…

the LORD longs to be gracious to you;

therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.

For the Lord is a God of justice.

Blessed are all who wait for him! (Isaiah 30:18)

A word. There are times when God’s mercies do not come in the form of hugs and rainbows, but rather in the form of chastisement or adversity. I would hardly be loath to tell you how God has saved me from myself many times by taking me through deep waters.

I told my son one time, “as long as you are looking for a way out rather than the way home, you’ll always be a prodigal.” There are times when we will not see the Lord’s banner of victory in our life until we wave the white flag of surrender.

Mr. Spurgeon has something to say about this severe mercy:

Take this in the very starting, that whatever thy trouble, or thine affliction, there cannot be anything punitive in it, thou must never say-“Now God is punishing me for my sin.” Thou hast fallen from thy steadfastness when thou talkest so. God cannot do that. He has once for all done it. “The chastisement of our peace was upon HIM, and by HIS stripes we are healed.” He is chastising thee, not punishing thee; he is correcting thee in measure, he is not smiting thee in wrath. There is no hot displeasure in his heart. Even though his brow may be ruffled, there is no anger in his breast; even though his eye may have closed upon thee, he hates thee not, he loves thee still. He is not wroth with his heritage, for he seeth no sin in Jacob, neither iniquity-in Israel, considered in the person of Christ. It is simply because he loves you, because ye are sons, that he therefore chastises you.¹

Yes, a thousand times yes, God is fully willing to send a stranger to fix your tire on a rainy night when the highway is so busy you cannot get out of your automobile because of your disability. You can be jolly well certain God has you on his radar when you’re on your sickbed and the devil is terrifying you with fevered dreams of despair. He’ll also use your sickbed to find his Beautiful Face in the dark.

Start making a list of the times when you see God‘s mercies come to you, in big and small ways. Before you know it your list might grow to a thousand. Or more.

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¹ Charles H. Spurgeon, Chastisement, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/chastisement/