If you'd like to open your Bibles to Exodus 33.
!
See, you say to me, bring up this people, but you've not let me know whom you will send with me.
Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you've also found favour in my sight.
Now, therefore, if I have found favour in your sight, please show me now your ways that I may know you in order to find favour in your sight.
Consider, too, that this nation is your people.
And he said, my presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
And he said to him, if your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
For how shall it be known that I have found favour in your sight, I and your people?
Is it not in you going with us so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?
And the Lord said to Moses, this very thing that you have spoken, I will do.
For you have found favour in my sight, and I know you by name.
Moses said, please show me your glory.
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord.
And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
But, he said, you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.
And the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.
The Lord said to Moses, cut for yourself two tablets of stone, like the first, and I'll write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.
Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to me on the top of the mountain.
No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain.
Let no flocks or herds graze opposite the mountain.
So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first, and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him,
and took in his hand two tablets of stone.
The Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquities of the fathers on the children,
and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.
And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped.
And he said,
If I now have found favour in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us,
for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.
This is God's word.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
My computer is not coming to the party.
There we go.
It's all right.
I'll make do.
Please keep your Bibles open at Exodus chapters 32 to 34.
We're actually going to be looking at quite a few different Bible passages this morning,
but most of the other ones will come up on the screen,
but the Exodus part won't come up on the screen,
and that's the section we'll be looking at most closely.
How we treat the poor and the weak and the vulnerable reveals something about our hearts.
It reveals the degree to which our hearts have been gripped by the love of God.
That's a prominent theme in the Bible across both Testaments, Old and New Testament.
So, for example, are our acts of worship genuine?
Are our acts of worship genuine?
Well, the people in Isaiah's day, the prophet Isaiah's day, were very religious.
They offered all the sacrifices.
They observed all the ceremonies.
But here's what God said to them in Isaiah chapter 1.
What to me, I think this will come up on the screen.
Here we go.
Yep, and we'll step through it.
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the Lord.
I have had enough of burnt offerings and rams and the fat of well-fed beasts.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats.
When you come to appear before me, who is required of you this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings.
Incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations.
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates.
They've become a burden to me.
I'm weary of bearing them.
When you spread your hands, I'll hide my eyes from you.
Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen.
Your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean.
Remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes.
Cease to do evil.
Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Correct oppression.
Bring justice to the fatherless.
Lead the widow's cause.
I mean, God's language here is very strong.
They had religion.
But God says it was all meaningless.
It was all empty.
It was just a show.
In fact, more than, worse than meaningless, it was offensive to God.
Why?
Because of the injustice of their lives.
Because their hands were full of blood.
Because they did not seek justice.
Because they did not confront oppression or defend the orphans and widows in their midst.
Religion, God says, without care for the vulnerable is just an empty show.
What about our faith?
Is our faith in God genuine?
Well, listen to James, the brother of the Lord Jesus.
In James chapter 2, he says,
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you says to them,
go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body,
what good is that?
So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Verses 15 and 16 there are not just a mere illustration.
They're a case study.
They're an example, James says, of the kinds of works that faith must produce if it's truly alive and not dead.
Do we know God's love?
Well, listen to the Apostle John in 1 John 3.
1 John 3,
Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.
If we say we know God's love, if we truly have God's love abiding in us,
then that must overflow in works of compassion and love towards others in need.
Are we actually God's saved people?
Well, in Jesus' parable in Matthew 25,
the parable of the sheep and the goats,
what differentiates the sheep from the goats are acts of mercy and kindness shown to Jesus' brothers, to his people.
Do we give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty?
Do we welcome the stranger and clothe the naked?
Do we visit the sick and help the prisoner?
Do we see the poor and the vulnerable and the weak reveals whether or not we truly know God.
Now, today and for the next two weeks,
we're taking a little break from our series in Romans
for a mini-sermon series on God's justice and mercy.
Now, my plan for this series is really based around a single verse,
which may be a familiar verse to you.
It's Micah 6, verse 8.
Micah 6, verse 8 in context is one of those passages,
a bit like the ones that we just read,
where the prophet is asking, or God is asking,
what is genuine religion?
What does God actually want from us?
And this is how it reads, Micah 6, verse 8.
He has told you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
But to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God.
What might it look like if we commit together,
commit ourselves under God to doing justice
and loving kindness with one another
and in our wider community?
What would it look like?
Luke wrote of the early church, in Acts chapter 4,
he wrote of the early church that
there was not a needy person among them.
It's not that there were no needs in the early church,
it's just that they gave sacrificially
to meet one another's needs.
Could we be so committed to justice and kindness
that there would not be a needy person among us?
Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing?
What difference might it make in Glendale
and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie
if in our neighbourhoods and our workplaces
and our schools and our community groups,
we carry with us that commitment
to justice and kindness
into every place God sends us
from Monday to Saturday each week?
Well, brothers and sisters,
there's no doing justice and loving kindness
without walking humbly with our God.
And there's no walking humbly with our God
without knowing our God.
So the way I want us to approach this series
is quite simple.
In this first talk,
we're going to reflect on the kindness of God.
In the second talk,
we're going to reflect on the justice of God,
that is two sermons helping us know God.
And in the third talk,
we're going to think about doing justice
and loving kindness,
our response.
My prayer is that this series
will help us be ready individually
and collectively
for whatever works of justice and mercy
God may put before us.
In fact, why don't we pray that now?
Heavenly Father,
we do ask that as we meditate on your word today
and in coming weeks,
you would help us to know you deeply and truly,
to know your justice and your kindness.
And so,
fill us with wonder at who you are,
that that might overflow in our works of justice
and kindness for others.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, today we're going to reflect on the kindness of God.
Now, there are many places in the Bible
we could go to do this.
For all who live after Christ,
there is an obvious starting point.
But I actually want us to start somewhere else.
In the Old Testament,
with a moment that was for Israel
both pivotal and foundational.
A moment when the Lord showed Moses
who he truly is.
In particular, showed Israel
that it is God's glory
that he is kind.
Now, the key text is in Exodus 34,
verses 5 to 7.
We've heard that already
from Emma's kids' talk
that she did a moment ago.
To my mind,
those verses that Emma covered
in her kids' talk,
that they are the high point
of the entire book of Exodus.
Now, that's a bold claim
because the book of Exodus
is full of seismic events.
There's the burning bush
where the Lord appeared to
and spoke to Moses.
There are the ten plagues
that God sent on the land of Egypt,
culminating in the Passover.
There's the parting of the sea,
the Red Sea,
so that Israel could pass through
on dry land.
And then the sea came over
and covered the armies
of the Egyptians.
There's the coming to Mount Sinai,
the giving of the law,
the Ten Commandments.
There's the construction
of the tabernacle.
So many major events
in the book of Exodus,
but I believe that these few verses
are the high point
because they follow the lowest point.
These verses are the zenith
because they follow the nadir.
It's one of the most important texts
of the entire Bible.
But before we look at those verses
that Emma's already read for us
in Exodus 34
and chairs as well
in the Bible reading,
we need to take in some of the context.
Exodus chapter 32 records
a catastrophic failure
on the part of God's people Israel.
Look at the start of Exodus 32 with me.
Exodus 32 verses 6 and 7.
This won't be on the screen,
but if you have Bibles open,
it'd be great if you could see it
and follow along.
Exodus 32 verses 1 to 6.
I'm going to read, sorry.
32.
When the people saw that Moses
delayed to come down the mountain,
the people gathered themselves together
to Aaron and said to him,
up,
make us gods who shall go before us.
As for this Moses,
the man who brought us up
out of the land of Egypt,
we do not know what has become of him.
So Aaron said to them,
take off the rings of gold
that are in the ears of your wives,
your sons and your daughters
and bring them to me.
So all the people took off
the rings of gold
that were in their ears
and brought them to Aaron
and he received the gold
from their hand
and fashioned it
with a graving tool
and made a golden calf.
And they said,
these are your gods,
O Israel,
who brought you up
out of the land of Egypt.
When Aaron saw this,
he built an altar before it
and Aaron made a proclamation
and said,
tomorrow shall be a feast
to the Lord.
And they rose up early
the next day
and offered burnt offerings
and brought peace offerings
and the people sat down
to eat and drink
and rose up to play.
Now for no better reason
than that Moses
was taking a while
on Mount Sinai,
Israel disobeyed
the law they had just received
and broke the covenant
they had just made.
They engage in idolatry,
the crafting of a graven image,
in false worship,
in blasphemy
against the name of the Lord,
in implementing novel sacrifices,
an invented festival,
and I think it suggested
debauchery
and they rose up to play
in implying drunkenness
and promiscuity.
If Israel had deliberately
sat down
and brainstormed
how they could break
as many commandments
as possible
in one fell swoop,
I don't think,
you know,
they would have been
hard-pressed to come up
with a better scheme
than this.
I'm a catastrophic failure.
And God's response
is devastating.
Look at what God says
to Moses
in verse 7.
And the Lord
says to Moses,
said to Moses,
listen to God's words here,
the Lord said to Moses,
go down
for
your people
whom
you brought up
out of the land of Egypt
have corrupted themselves.
See how God's just
completely disowned Israel.
Not my people,
your people
whom you brought out.
And verse 10,
he declares his intention
to destroy them.
He says,
God says to Moses,
now therefore let me alone
that my wrath
may burn hot
against them
and I may consume them
in order that I may make
a great nation
of you.
God says,
I'll wipe them out.
I'll just start again
with you,
Moses.
No more of this
corrupt,
rebellious
Israel.
Israel is on the cusp
of complete
and utter
ruin.
And it raises
the question for us,
has everything
that's happened before
in the book of Exodus,
all the events
that have taken place,
the plagues,
the parting of the sea,
the war,
all of it,
is it all just
a complete waste of time?
Is it all pointless?
Is it all utterly
in vain?
Is it all
at this point,
it would have been
better off,
Israel would have been
better off
if God had left
them in Egypt
than that he'd
brought them out?
There'd been
earlier points
in Israel's escape
from Egypt
where things
had looked a bit
shaky.
But at each
of those points,
all Israel really
needed was the
power of God
to rescue them.
The power of God
to keep sending
plagues
until finally
even hard-hearted
Pharaoh
was forced
to capitulate.
The power
of God
to confuse
the Egyptian army,
the power
of God
to part
the sea,
the power
of God
to bring
water from
a rock
and provide
food in
the wilderness.
But the
golden calf
crisis
was a crisis
on a whole
new level
because now
the power
of God
was not an
ally
to the
Israelites
but a
threat to
their very
existence.
The Israelites
had become
Pharaoh
and the
Egyptians.
They had
made God
into their
enemy.
Now,
brothers and
sisters,
just imagine
if we
found ourselves
in this
place
every time
we sinned
against God.
If every
time we
put idols
before God,
we found
ourselves
here,
where the
Israelites
were that
day.
For
example,
let's
say
I'm
feeling
anxious
or stressed
about
something.
something's
really
troubling
me.
And
instead of
praying,
instead of
turning to
God,
I turn
to
Netflix
or
alcohol
or
exercise
or
whatever
it might
be.
And I
say,
Netflix,
you're the
one who can
help me deal
with my
worries.
Exercise,
you're the
one that's
going to
save me
from my
troubles.
And that's
the kind of
thing we
often do,
isn't it?
When we're
anxious or
worried or
weighed down
with something,
we know
instead of
turning to
God,
we turn to
these other
things.
That may be
less extreme
than the
golden
calf,
but it's
not that
dissimilar
in terms of
what we're
doing.
Imagine if
any time we
did something
like that,
God said,
enough,
I'm done
with you.
My wrath
is burning
against you.
I'm going
to wipe
you out
and start
again.
Which one
of us
would last
even a
day?
Yet that's
exactly where
Israel found
itself,
through their
own rebellion
and idolatry.
Israel
and
with
destruction
hovering over
Israel
and about
to descend,
Moses
interceded.
Moses had
this offer
from God
that God
would wipe
out the
rest of
them and
start again
with Moses,
but Moses
wasn't
interested in
that.
He refused
to let
himself be
separated
from Israel.
He rather
instead
identified with
Israel and
he interceded
for them.
In verse
11 of
chapter 32,
he implored
the Lord
his God.
Now there
are three
stages to
Moses'
intercession.
We don't
really have
time to
go into
all the
details
here,
but I'll
just try
and fly
through it
a bit.
Stage
one is
in chapter
32
verses
11 to
13.
First
notice how
he starts
in verse
11.
O Lord,
why does
your wrath
burn hot
against
your people
whom you
have brought
out of the
land of
Egypt with
great power
and with
a mighty
hand?
Notice
how he
challenges
God who
had just
disowned his
people and
says,
no God,
they're yours
and you're
the one who
redeemed
them.
Verse
13,
he calls
on the
Lord to
remember his
promise to
Abraham,
Isaac and
Jacob,
calls on
him to
turn from
his burning
anger and
the outcome
in verse
14 is
the Lord
relented
from the
disaster that
he'd spoken
of bringing
on his
people.
So the
Lord doesn't
just wipe
them out
and destroy
them.
That's stage
one of
Moses'
intercession.
But there
are still
some questions
unresolved.
You know,
okay,
God's not
going to
wipe them
out,
but what
does this
mean for
Israel's
future?
So stage
two comes
in chapter
32 verses
31 and
32,
where Moses
confesses the
people's
sin to
the Lord
and asks
God's
forgiveness
and even
offers himself
in their
place.
And the
outcome is
that God
reinstates
their future.
He says,
verse 34,
chapter 32,
verse 34,
now go lead
the people to
the place about
which I've
spoken to
you.
Behold,
my angel
shall go
before you.
And it
continues in
chapter 33
verse 1,
depart,
go up from
here,
you and
the people
whom you
brought up
from the
land of
Egypt.
He says,
you can
go to
the land,
I'll give
you the
land,
verse 2,
33,
verse 2,
I'll send
my angel
before you,
he'll drive
out the
Canaanites,
verse 3,
go to the
land of
flowing with
milk and
honey,
they have
their future,
they have
their life,
they have
their future,
but look
what God
says at
33 verse
3,
at the end
of verse
3,
so they
have their
life,
they're not
going to be
destroyed,
they have
their future,
they can
continue and
go to the
land and
God will
give it
to them,
but they
have forfeited
their most
precious
treasure,
the presence
of God
himself with
them.
And so
stage 3 of
Moses'
intercession
comes in
chapters 33
verse 12
to 16,
which
Ches read
for us
earlier.
And it
begins
chapter 33
verse 12,
see you
say to
me bring
up this
people but
you've not
let me know
whom you
shall send
with me.
Yet
you've said
I know
you by
name and
you've
also found
favour in
my son.
Moses is
appealing to
the Lord
are you
going to
come with
us Lord?
Verse
15,
Moses said
to the
Lord,
if your
presence
will not
go with
me,
don't
bring us
up from
here.
For how
shall it
be known
that I
have found
favour in
your sight,
I and
your people?
Is it
not by
your
going
with us
so that
we are
distinct?
I and
your
people from
every other
people on
the face
of your
earth?
None of
the rest
of it
matters,
God,
if you
do not
go with
us.
And so
the outcome
to this
third stage
of intercession,
chapter 33,
verse 17,
and the
Lord said
to Moses,
this very
thing that
you've
spoken,
I will
do,
for you
have found
favour in
my sight,
and I
know you
by name.
So by
three
stages,
God
grants
Israel
their
life,
he
grants
Israel
their
future,
and he
grants
Israel
his
presence
with
them.
And in
33,
verse 18,
Moses said,
please show
me your
glory.
Now there's
two
possible,
you know,
show me
your glory,
Lord.
There are
two possible
reasons Moses
is asking
this,
maybe it's
just in
his
exuberance.
He's
overcome
with
thankfulness.
He wants
to see
more of
God.
Or perhaps
secondly,
maybe he's
seeking
reassurance.
He's
asking for
a sign
that God
really will
do what
he's just
said he'll
do.
Either way,
God's
response
comes in
verse 19,
I'll make
all my
goodness
pass
before you
and will
proclaim
before you
my name,
the Lord.
notice that
God's
glory that
Moses asked
to see
in verse
18 is
God's
goodness,
which he
says will
pass before
him in
verse 19.
And both
are connected
to God's
name,
God's
glory,
God's
goodness,
God's
name.
God's
face
is a
deeper
revelation
of who
God
himself
is,
of who
God
is.
Verse
20 to
23,
God
explains
that
Moses
can't
see
God's
face
and
live
so
great
is
the
Lord
that
God
will
hide
Moses
in
the
cleft
of
a
rock
until
he
passes
by
so
that
Moses
will
only
see
the
back
of
God.
Nevertheless,
God
is
revealing
himself
to
Moses.
His
glory,
his
goodness,
his
name,
they're
interconnected.
This
is
God's
identity,
this
is
his
nature,
his
core
nature.
And
what
did
God
reveal
to
Moses?
The
glory
that
God
showed
to
Moses
is
that
he
is
kind.
34
verse
5.
The
Lord
descended
in
the
cloud
and
stood
with
him
there
and
proclaimed
the
name
of
the
Lord.
The
Lord
passed
before
him
and
proclaimed
the
Lord,
the
Lord,
a
God
merciful
and
gracious,
slow
to
anger
and
abounding
in
steadfast
love
and
faithfulness,
keeping
steadfast
love
for
thousands,
forgiving
iniquity
and
transgression
and
sin.
Now,
yes,
there's
more that
follows
and maybe
we'll
look at
that
next
week.
But I
want us
to focus
on God's
revelation
here of
his
kindness.
Notice
in verses
5 and
6,
it's
the
Lord
who
is
proclaiming
his
own
name.
This
isn't
what
Moses
is
saying
about
God,
this
is
what
God
is
saying
about
himself.
God
is
making
himself
known,
he is
declaring
who
he
is
to
Moses.
And
this
revelation
of who
God
is
in
these
verses
here
as
he
passes
before
Moses
is
not
incidental
to
what's
happened
in
chapters
32
and
33.
Rather,
as
God
declares
his
name,
as
he
shows
his
goodness,
his
glory,
his
character,
God is
explaining
what's
taken
place
in
chapters
32
and
33.
God
is
explaining
why
when
Moses
interceded
the first
time,
the Lord
relented
from the
disaster
he'd
planned
and
did
not
destroy
Israel.
He's
explaining
why
when
Moses
interceded
the second
time,
the Lord
reinstated
their future
in the
promised
land.
He's
explaining
why
when
Moses
interceded
the third
time,
the Lord
even
agreed
that
he
would
go
with
them.
Why
he was
willing
to forgive
their
iniquity
and
transgression
and
sin.
Now,
there are
three key
words in
Exodus 34
verse 6
that
describe
the kind
heart
of God.
Merciful,
gracious
and
steadfast
love.
Now,
I want to
spend a few
moments thinking
about those
words.
Now,
just about
any words
in any
language
will have
a range
of meanings.
If you
look up
in the
Oxford
English
Dictionary
the word
merciful,
you'll
find three
different
meanings.
Eleven
different
meanings
for gracious
and 24
for the
noun
love.
So,
words
have a
range
of
meanings.
The
same
general
principle
that
applies
to
English
words,
it
applies
to
the
Hebrew
words
that
underlie
these
English
words
in our
translations
here.
So,
at one
level,
what God's
doing here
as he
speaks of
being
merciful
and
gracious
and
abounding
in
steadfast
love
is that
he's
kind
of
piling
on
synonyms
or
near
synonyms
for
effect
to show
who he
truly is.
It's a bit
similar to
in verse
7 when he
speaks of
forgiving
iniquity
and
transgression
and sin.
When God
speaks of
forgiving
iniquity
and
transgression
and sin,
those words,
iniquity,
transgression,
they have
different shades
of meaning.
But what
God's
doing,
he's not
legislating
three
different
categories
of
misdemeanor
and saying
I forgive
this category
and that
category.
Rather,
he's
piling up
these
near
synonyms
to show
how expansive
his forgiveness
is.
No matter
what your
sin is
or what
kind of
sin it
is,
forgiveness
is available
for you.
So,
I don't
want to
press the
differences
too much,
but I do
want us
to spend
a little
time
thinking
about
these
three
words
because
these
are the
big
three
when it
comes to
the
kindness
of God.
There
are other
Hebrew
words
in the
Old
Testament
that
overlap
with
these.
There
are a
couple
of
words
that
are
often
translated
to
pity
or
despair
and
there's
others
about
forgiveness
and so on.
But these
are the
big
three.
I
think
these
are
the
most
important
words
in the
Old
Testament
when it
comes
to the
character,
the
word
is
compassionate.
Firstly,
the word
merciful,
which is
the other
way it's
commonly
translated
in Old
Testaments
is as
compassionate.
Here it's
an adjective
!
God is
merciful!
But this
word also
occurs as a
verb to
show mercy
or to
have
compassion
and as
a noun
mercy
or compassion.
In fact,
when it
occurs in the
noun form,
it's always
in a
plural
form,
which is
why some
English
translations
will come
across the
expression
God's
mercies,
plural.
So God's
mercy,
his
compassion,
this word
refers,
it can
refer both
to sort
of an
outward
act of
mercy,
but also
to the
inner
disposition
of
mercy
and
compassion.
That
God is
merciful,
that he's
compassionate,
means that
it is in
God's
very
nature
that he
is moved
by the
suffering
of others.
God is
not indifferent,
he's not
cold,
he's not
aloof,
he's a
God who
cares,
and because
he cares,
he acts.
What about
the second
word,
gracious?
Well,
similarly with
the first
word,
here it's an
adjective,
God is,
the Lord
is gracious,
when it's
used as an
adjective in
the Old
Testament,
it's only
ever used
of God,
in fact.
But again,
it can also
occur in the
Old Testament
as a verb,
translated
as something
like to be
gracious,
or to be
generous,
or to show
favour,
or as a
noun,
translated as
grace or
favour,
or in some
other ways.
So what does
it mean that
God is
gracious?
Well,
to borrow
an expression
from James
chapter 1,
that God
is gracious
means that
he gives
generously
without finding
fault.
It's in
God's nature
to give.
He's inclined
to be
generous.
He's inclined
to bestow
favour,
even when
doing so
requires
overlooking
an offence.
he's
gracious.
What about
the third,
steadfast
love?
This one
only really
occurs,
or commonly
at least,
only occurs
commonly as
a noun,
hesed.
And it's
usually
translated in
ESV as
steadfast
love,
sometimes
translated as
in Micah
6 verse 8
it's translated
as the word
kindness.
The New
American Standard
Bible translates
it as
loving
kindness,
which goes
way back
to the
Coverdale
Bible
in 1535,
one of
the early
English
translations.
God's
steadfast
love,
that God
abounds
in steadfast
love,
means that
he is
full of
self-giving
love,
a love
that is
generous
and
bountiful
and that
will not
fail.
It means
that God
pledges
himself
to others
to be
for others,
to do
good to
others.
He
pledges
himself to
others
with an
unwavering
commitment
and that
magnificent
trio,
merciful,
gracious,
abounding
in steadfast
love,
that expounds
the name
of God.
That is
essential to
his glory
and his
goodness.
It is the
glory of
God that
he is
kind.
God
and this
is who
God
shows
himself
to be
in the
aftermath
of
Israel's
rebellion
with the
golden
calf.
But this
revelation
of God's
glory and
goodness to
Moses,
that then
echoes
through the
rest of
the Bible,
through the
rest of the
Old Testament,
through the
prophets,
through the
Psalms.
So the
prophet Joel,
for example,
Israel was
suffering a
locust plague
because of
their sin,
or maybe
actually it
was an
invading army
that's
metaphorically
described as
a locust
plague,
but whichever
it is,
Joel calls
on Israel
to return
to the
Lord and
the basis
on which
returning
to the
Lord would
not be
in vain
is the
revelation
God had
made of
himself here
to Moses.
Joel 2
verse 12
to 13,
we read
these words,
yet even
now
declares
the Lord,
return to
me with
all your
heart,
with fasting,
with weeping
and with
mourning,
and rend
your hearts
and not
your garments,
return to
the Lord
your God,
for he
is gracious
and merciful,
slow to
anger and
abounding in
steadfast love,
and he
relents over
disaster.
Do you
hear the
echoes of
Exodus?
King
Hezekiah in
2 Chronicles
30 verse
9, when
he's calling
on Israel
and Judah
to return
to God
in the
light of
the looming
threat of
the Assyrian
empire,
again he
hearkens back
to this
revelation of
God in
Exodus 34,
for if you
return to
the Lord,
your brothers
and your
children will
find compassion
with their
captors and
return to
this land,
for the Lord
your God
is gracious
and merciful
and will not
turn his face
away from you
if you return
to him.
in the book
of Lamentations
when the
traumatized
survivors
of Jerusalem
which has
just been
destroyed by
Babylon,
this traumatized
few that are
left in the
land are
trying to
come to
terms with
what had
happened.
We read in
Lamentations 3
these words,
I mean I
could multiply
examples beyond
these right?
Jonah when he
complains about
what God is
like because
Jonah doesn't
want God to
forgive the
Ninevites,
he again,
he quotes
Exodus 34
verse 6,
so I know
you'll like
this God.
Nehemiah
in Nehemiah
chapter 9,
this is when
remnants returned
from the Babylonian
exile,
they're living in
Jerusalem,
this small
community and
Nehemiah is
confessing Israel's
sin,
in his prayer
he clings on
to God's mercy
as revealed to
Moses in exactly
these words.
In the Psalms,
in the prophets,
this revelation
of God's kindness
in Exodus 34
became the basis
for Israel's
hope.
And in
particular we
see this
trio of
glorious
words
extend in
two related
directions.
See that
God is kind
means first
that there is
grace for the
guilty.
Consider David's
prayer after
his adultery
with Bathsheba
in Psalm 51
and notice the
trio of
words here,
Psalm 51
verses 1 and
2,
be gracious
to me
O God
according to
your steadfast
love,
according to
your abundant
mercy,
blot out my
transgressions,
wash me
thoroughly from
my iniquity and
cleanse me from
my sin.
Now that was
David's prayer.
prayer.
Now when we
sin,
brothers and
sisters,
what hope do
we have
except that
God is
gracious and
merciful and
abounding in
steadfast love?
Our only hope
of forgiveness
is because of
who God
himself
is.
Now you
might respond,
our only hope
of forgiveness
is in the
cross of
Christ and
you'd be
absolutely
right.
But it's
important that
we have the
order right in
our understanding.
The cross of
Christ doesn't
compel God to
be gracious.
Rather,
the grace of
God compelled
Christ to the
cross.
The cross
doesn't make
God love
us.
Rather,
the cross
demonstrates
God's love.
The cross
doesn't force
God to be
compassionate.
It expresses
God's
compassion.
We would
not be
forgiven
without the
cross,
but without
the mercy
and grace
and steadfast
love of
God,
there would
be no
cross.
This is a
wonderful truth
to take
hold of.
It means
that for us
forgiveness
and salvation
and the
love of
God,
they all
have their
ultimate
source in
the nature
of God
himself,
in his
glory,
in his
goodness.
We have
hope.
Why?
Because of
who God
is.
we have
a saviour.
Why?
Because of
who God
is.
And because
of who God
is, we
have all
those blessings
that were
restored to
Israel in
Exodus
chapters 32
to 34.
We have
life.
We're not
consumed by
God's wrath.
We have a
future.
There's a
land he's
promised to
us, a
heavenly
home.
and we
have God
himself, his
presence with
us forever, the
sum of all
blessings.
There's the
first direction
the kind
heart of God
goes in the
Bible, grace
for the guilty.
There's a
second direction,
compassion for
the needy.
Now how
often in the
Psalms do we
find prayers
where an
appeal for
God's mercy
accompanies an
expression of
human need?
Consider
Psalm 6
verse 2, but
you can find
it all through
the Psalms.
Psalm 6
verse 2,
Be gracious
to me, O
Lord, for
I am
languishing.
Heal me, O
Lord, for
my bones are
troubled.
My soul
also is
greatly
troubled.
But you,
O Lord,
how long?
Turn, O
Lord, deliver
my life.
Save me
for the
sake of
your
steadfast
love.
Now read
the Psalms
and you'll
find example
after example
of this,
side by
side, an
outpouring of
the
Psalmist's
need and
trouble and
affliction and
suffering and
distress with
an appeal to
God for
help that
draws on one
of more of
that magnificent
trio of
words,
the kind
heart of
God.
The
Psalmist
presents his
need and
then he
says,
save me
for the
sake of
your
steadfast
love.
Brothers,
sisters,
we can
pray like
that because
our need
is a
magnet for
God's
compassion.
When we
pray like
that, we're
not testing
God's
patience.
When we
pour out
our
desperation
to God,
we're not
testing God's
patience.
We're opening
ourselves up to
his glory.
Any trouble
we face,
any pain,
any affliction
is an
opportunity to
draw near to
God and
to ask him
to be who
he is.
What God
desires of us
is that we
would love
kindness.
Jesus said
in Luke
6 verse
36,
be merciful
even as
your father
is merciful.
If we're
going to
show God's
kindness,
we need
to know
God's
kindness.
The
problem with
the Pharisees
who confronted
Jesus,
who objected
to Jesus
eating with
tax collectors
and sinners,
is that
they were
self-righteous.
They didn't
know God's
kindness for
themselves.
Jesus said
to them,
when they
objected,
he said,
go and
learn what
this means.
Then he
quoted Hosea
chapter 6,
go and
learn what
this means.
I desire
mercy,
not sacrifice.
What blocks
kindness is
self-righteousness.
But if you're
on one of the
Titanic's
lifeboats,
it's
ludicrous to
think that
you're on
one of those
lifeboats
because you're
more deserving
than the
people in
the water.
What
blocks
kindness is
self-righteousness,
but what
builds
kindness
is knowing
God's
kindness
to us.
You need
to know
God's
kindness
to you
before you
will see
God's
kindness
through you.
God's
love
God's
love
to you.
If our
hearts are
cold, the
solution is to
draw near to
God himself, to
draw near to the
source of all
grace and
compassion and
kindness, to
recognize our
need and to
bask in God's
goodness and so
be moved that we
might be
merciful as our
Father has
been merciful to
us.
Will you pray
with me?
Lord God,
the creator of
all things,
the judge of
all the
earth, the
one infinite in
power and
wisdom, you
have shown
yourself to
be the
God who is
gracious and
merciful and
abounding in
steadfast love.
There is not
one need we
have which you
cannot supply out
of your infinite
goodness.
grace.
We thank you,
Lord God, that
it is your
heart to be
kind, that
this is your
glory.
We thank you
that you
freely forgive
us for all
our sins out
of the grace
shown to us
through Jesus'
death on the
cross.
We thank you
that every
need we have
we can bring
before you
knowing that
you are a
God full of
compassion,
that you care
for us.
So, Father, we
pray that you
would overwhelm
us with your
love and
kindness.
Show your
kindness to
us, that you
might show your
kindness through
us.
In Jesus' name
we pray.
Amen.