Theme: BE YE ANGRY AND SIN NOT!
Text: “…The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” – Exodus 34:6,7.
Comment: The afore-mentioned text is in reference to the Almighty God, Who, to quote the prophet Micah “retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy”. From one generation to another, the Everlasting Father had demonstrated this characteristic before His prophets, kings, priests and peoples.
God pardoned Ahab and Hezekiah, kings in Israel, when both humbled themselves before the LORD. (1Kings 21:1-29 and 2 Kings 20:1-7). To Aaron, the priest, was extended the mercies of God when the Jews erred in worshipping Aaron’s molten calf (Exodus 32). Instances there are of overflow of God’s mercies on the children of Israel and others who rebelled before Him. Forty years in the wilderness, they blasphemed, murmured and trangressed against the One “whose mercies endureth forever”.
Charles Spurgeon, an English author once noted: “When I hear of anybody losing his temper, I always pray that he may not find it again. Such tempers are best lost.” It is obvious that God’s displeasure did not last long on His people when they stumbled. We, His worshippers should learn from this noble attribute and save ourselves from complicating medical issues. Apostle Paul’s treatise is very instructive “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:31,32. Please see also Colossians 3:8,12,13.