His Delight
Micah 7:18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
:19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
I recently had a friend point out an error in something that I shared publicly from the Word. In studying for this particular subject I had failed to notice a very obvious element of my main scripture’s origin that was an essential part of the truth I was presenting. Though my intent had been sincere and honest and though the truth of what I had shared was probably unaltered by the error, my oversight was still an obvious one and a source for real embarrassment on my part. I was so grateful for the love and consideration used by my friend in revealing this to me as this would be an opportunity to increase the level of care I would give to future preparation.
Something other than remorse over my error became evident through this experience, though- the magnitude of our errors on a daily basis that we may never be aware of. If my friend had not pointed out my failure, I might have just gone on my merry way without ever knowing the significance of my mistake. It wasn’t like my intentions were wrong, but this didn’t lessen the fact that I was completely and totally wide of the mark. I became incredibly aware that adhering to all that is known at the moment doesn’t eliminate mistakes and their possible ramifications.
To a God who is perfect in every way, it is certain that even one iniquity, known or unknown, is sufficient for total disqualification from His presence or serving in His holy kingdom. His passion and delight in mercy, however, turns our certain destruction into accepted favor in Him as every sin and miss of the mark is subdued by His incredibly compassionate mercy. His desire of our fellowship is the result as a garment of righteousness covers all the fallacies, making us presentable before Him. There will always be error for even the best of scholars and there will ever be a need for sins to be passed over even in the best of hearts. There will also ever be an abundance of mercy in more than sufficient supply to overcome the power of destructive shortcomings and preserve the relationship and fellowship that is an eternal assurance in Christ.
There may be embarrassments and adjustments to make based upon our own failures, but before God there is an endless supply of mercy, new and fresh every morning for an affirmation of our place in Him that is secure beyond any threat of condemnation. He is eternally faithful in His mercy and will never fail to restore and preserve a place of acceptance and fellowship in Him. Even for those things of which we’re not yet aware there is a covering and passing by that enables us to feel confidence in boldly approaching the throne of grace.
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
