Commentary - Old Testament
"God is not only compassionate, but full of compassion..." - Matthew Henry
"God's love assumes many forms, and is lovely in them all."
"Are we sorrowful? We find the Lord full of compassion."
- both quotes are from Charles Spurgeon
In the most affectionate and tender manner, God cares for His children. As a parent to a child, He is rich in mercy and freely bestows it.
He is kind and always ready to do good. He feels for the suffering...weak...foolish...despondent... and very pitiful. He feels with them. And He does it heartily and in a practical way. He sympathizes with human misery - freely...constantly...deeply... divinely...and effectually. Wherever He sees misery, His heart is moved.
He always shows tremendous restraint because of His superabundant compassion. Hence, He is merciful and ready to forgive. Oftentimes, He doesn't destroy because He is full of compassion.
In Psalm 86, David celebrated God's compassion. He made it the basis of his plea for help.
"Bow down Thine ear, O LORD, hear me: for I am poor and needy."
"Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily."
"For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee."
"Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer..."
"In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me."
Why was David so confident that God would hear and answer his prayer?
The answer can be found in verse 15 - "But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion..." God showed him His greatness when He extended His hand of compassion toward him in the past - "For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone" (Psalm 86:10) "For great is Thy mercy toward me: and Thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell" (Psalm 86:13).
Now that the "proud were risen up against him, and the assemblies of violent men were seeking after his soul" (verse 14), he knew that there was a Great and Mighty God in heaven who was "full of compassion" and would perform "wondrous things" on his behalf as a result.
In Psalm 111, he specifically praised the Lord for being "full of compassion" (verse 4). "With his whole heart" and "in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation" (verse 1), he was determined to give God all of the praise for His "great," "honorable," and"glorious" "works" which he coupled with His "compassion."
In verse 6, he said this about his God - "He hath shown His people the power of His works..." This was all done because of His compassionate feelings toward them. In other words, He performed miracles because He was so "full of compassion." The people's weaknesses and infirmities moved Him to show His mighty power and acts on their behalf.
Once again, in the midst of discussing God's "greatness," "mighty acts," "terrible acts," and "wondrous works," David included the Lord's "great goodness" which was being displayed because He was "full of compassion" (Psalm 145). In verse 9, he outrightly declared - "The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9). Are you seeing the correlation between the "goodness" of God and His mighty works?
Verse 14 goes on to say - "The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down." Why does He do it? Because He is "full of compassion." How does He do it? By His "greatness" or "wondrous works."
In Psalm 78:38, Asaph said this about the Lord - "But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath." He showed us another side of God's compassion. Not only does it work alongside of His works to perform miracles on behalf of the needy, sorrowful, and weak. It also restrains Him from destroying people for their stubbornness and rebellion. Aren't you glad for that?
Asaph - in the beginning of this Psalm - talked about passing on the information of God's "mighty works" to their children and grandchildren. He, too, linked the "works" of God with His "goodness." He felt that it was necessary for the people of God to see this tie in order for the upcoming generation to "set their hope in God" and "keep His commandments" (Psalm 78:7).
Because they failed to relate the two, they"forgat His works" ... "believed not in God, and trusted not in His salvation ... "believed not for His wondrous works ..."lied unto Him with their tongues" and "tempted God in their heart" (Psalm 78).
What would have happened if they would have remembered and then passed on to the next generation the relation between God's mighty deeds and His compassion?
Through these examples, we are seeing how three words can expressly affect our faith in God. Those three words are - "full of compassion."
We will never really be able to stretch our faith and reach for the Miracle that we so desperately need unless we see the connection between God's "terrible acts" and His being "full of compassion."
The reason why God performs Miracles on your behalf is not because of your goodness or what you have done - spiritually speaking.
It's all about Him, Saints!
He performs Miracles for saints and sinners alike simply because He is "full of compassion."
Try to get a hold of this truth today. Beneath His awesome power - or what is actually moving His power along - is His tenderness toward you - His kindness and readiness to do you good. He is "full of compassion." He feels for you and with you in your misery. He is moved by what moves you.
O Sinner Man, the reason why you haven't died yet and gone to Hell is because Jesus is so "full of compassion" and is doing everything possible to keep you from going to that God-forsaken place of torment. He is performing one act of mercy after another to keep you from that awful place.
Honestly, a message like this one should spark great faith in its readers. In fact, that is its intention.
Believe for your Miracle today - knowing that the God Who has all power in heaven and earth is moving toward you at breakneck speed to deliver you. His "compassion" is driving Him to rescue you from that adversity, sorrow, and pain that is presently plaguing you.
Cry out to Him now! Man may not hear your cries, but you can be sure that He does.
It's been said that tears speak a language that is understood in heaven. I wouldn't doubt if each tear that falls down your cheeks is reminding God of Who He is - while repeating over and over again the words - "full of compassion" ..."full of compassion" ... "full of compassion."
In response, His "compassion" is moving Him to do what only He can do - the impossible.
Don't ever forget - "God is not only compassionate, but full of compassion..."
May God Bless His Word,
Connie
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. (Isaiah 54:17)
© COPYRIGHT Connie Giordano - All Rights Reserved