’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). (Eph 2:4-5)
You are the Object of God's Love
God, rich in mercy and great with love. His love for man extends to the uttermost parts of the sea and to the darkest night. It descends to the lowest valley and reaches to the highest mountain in search of its object. His heart pierced with pain, extended toward the object of His love: sinners—miserable and laden with the cares of this world, dead in trespasses and sins. Because He loves, He yearns for fellowship with man. The Father of all mercies, in lovingkindness extends compassion and forbearance to all who are made alive by faith in Christ.
Divine love, true love, willingly suffers for its object. God gave His cherished Son, His only Son to suffer, bleed, and die that we may live together with Christ, risen from the grave of sin and shame, heirs to the riches in heaven, jewels in our Lord’s crown, engraved on the palms of His hands, forever in His hands and on His mind (Is. 49:16). In divine goodness and in harmony with infinite wisdom, power, and love, He made a way through His Son—the fountain of redemption. Jesus bore the burden of our guilt and sin on the cross, breaking up the fountains of the great deep of divine sorrow. He has quickened us, made us alive, revived, and stimulated us. Consider a rag doll, altogether unresponsive to its environment. Yet it comes to life when placed in the hands of a child to be carried, held, and loved. We have been as the rag doll toward the things of God, unresponsive to His leading, choosing, rather to be tossed around in the hands of the world’s temptations and our fleshly passions. But God, rich in mercy, has revived us, we are in His hands now, made alive in Christ, revived by Him. No longer destined to languish, entombed in our sins for Christ has raised us up to life with Him. All too often we look upon ourselves with the eyes of flesh, forgetting about God’s lens of mercy. We are the object of His divine love and compassion, engraved on the palms of His hands.
Won’t you put on your spiritual lens that you might see more clearly, focusing on the richness of God’s mercy? You are the object of His compassion. Let your soul rejoice as you live the life He has designed for you, made alive with Christ, destined for eternity in heaven. You have been made alive together with Christ. Let Him be the object of your compassion as you rejoice in the liberty He has given you, “’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, let angel minds inquire no more.”
Adoring the One Who’s Always Thinking of You
As a new believer, I memorized Psalm 139. I love to take one verse at a time in this Psalm and pray it back to the Lord, expanding the prayer to whatever needs come to mind as a result. For example, verse 17, “How precious also are Your thoughts of me, O God! How great is the sum of them!” He reminds me of my attitude when preparing dinner last night. I can rest, confident that He is thinking of, loving, and extending His love and grace toward me no matter what.
Your Turn: Read Psalm 139 one verse at a time. Allow the Lord to guide your thoughts about each verse and pray them back to Him. Let this be a powerful and time of intimate prayer and sweet fellowship with your Heavenly Father Who loves you beyond what you can possibly begin to comprehend.