Well, Israel's situation in these verses is certainly not unique, as we have spent the last several months studying through the book of Judges.
This is not a surprising scenario at all.
This is actually part and parcel of everything that is true of the Israelites in this book.
But their sin is much more pronounced here than in other texts.
Verse 6 gives us this long list of pagan deities to which they had offered their worship,
which prepares us for the severity of God's response when they supposedly are becoming penitent.
This list, it reveals how deeply apostate the nation had become.
Those God had taken as his very own turned to any and every other god except him.
Not only did they continue to serve the gods of the Canaanites, which is represented by Bel and Ashtaroth,
but we're told that they began to worship and bring in the gods of the nations that were surrounding the Canaanites.
We're told that they adopted the gods of Syria and Sidon to the north,
then the gods of Moab and Ammon to the east,
and then the gods of Philistia to the southwest.
And we read in Deuteronomy chapter 7 that God had actually instructed them
to commit these nations and their gods to destruction.
And if they didn't commit these nations and their gods to destruction,
they would be corrupted by them,
and then they would face God's wrath as God's enemy.
Now think about the irony here.
God makes it abundantly clear.
We just read it.
It's abundantly clear to the nation.
Do this to these people, my enemies in Canaan and the surrounding regions.
But if you don't obey me, you're going to be corrupted,
you're going to worship their gods,
and then you will then be my enemy.
And face my wrath.
That's Deuteronomy 7.
That's the warning of it.
Now we get to Judges chapter 10,
and we're reminded that they did not obey the Lord.
This is near total spiritual corruption now.
And it's time for them to face the threat of God's promised wrath.
The instruments of God's wrath in this particular case
includes two foreign enemies that are going to continue to tyrannize the nation
through the final two judge cycles.
Now this is hard to believe, but as far as the judge cycles are concerned,
there's only two major judges left in our study.
There's Jephthah, which Lord willing we'll get to next week.
And then there's Samson, that Lord willing we'll get to three weeks from today.
Well, the Ammonites, they came at Israel from the east.
And they oppressed and were told in this text for 18 years.
They progressively worked their way from the people east of the Jordan
to where eventually they crossed the Jordan River.
And now they're even assaulting some of the bigger tribes like Judah and Ephraim and Benjamin,
who typically falls under the protection of Judah because they're so close.
So this is a serious enemy.
They're coming from the east side.
And then we're going to see God deliver them,
or at least hold back the misery of Israel to some extent,
through what Jephthah does, through his use of Jephthah in the next chapter.
But then there's the Philistines.
The Philistines are coming from the west side.
And while the Ammonites are coming on this side,
the Philistines are coming on this side.
And though God uses Samson for a time to be something of an obstacle to them,
the Philistines never are subdued until King David.
So God uses Jephthah,
and he uses Samson to ease Israel's misery.
But there will be no more rest for the land
until God's king sits on the throne.
Israel's sins have come home to roost.
And God is pleased at this point, as we read,
for the consequences of their sin to run their course.
Well, just as Israel's idolatry is more pronounced in this text,
so is their cry for help.
The other narratives state simply that the people cried to the Lord for help,
but only this passage in all of the book of Judges
describes the nature and the content of their cry to the Lord.
And on the surface, it's a welcome change, isn't it?
We haven't seen this before with Israel.
It's a welcome change to read that they are acknowledging their sins,
that they're actually performing works of repentance
by putting away the foreign gods.
We haven't seen them do that yet.
But then God's response to that action
is surprising, at least,
and utterly offensive at most.
Israel seems to have done everything they were supposed to do.
They confessed their sin.
They put away their gods.
They served the Lord.
And yet God declares that He would not save them any longer.
His patience had clearly worn thin.
But is His response to Israel just?
Is it right?
Is it fair?
Didn't their prayers and their works of repentance merit the Lord's mercy?
And if not, how can we trust that He'll be merciful to us
when we put away our idols,
when we cry out for His help?
These are questions that are born from this text,
and they're questions that I want you to consider
as we study it together this morning.
There's two evident truths from this text about God's mercy
that are helpfully clarified for us.
The first one is this.
You cannot earn God's mercy.
Look again at verse 10.
The people of Israel cried out to the Lord,
saying, We have sinned against you
because we have forsaken our God
and have served the bells.
And the Lord said to the people of Israel,
Did I not save you from the Egyptians
and from the Amorites,
from the Ammonites and the Philistines,
the Sidonians also,
and the Amalekites and the Maonites,
which is probably a reference to Midian
and the army and the coalition of the Midianites
that Gideon fought against.
And you cried out to me,
and I saved you out of their hand.
Yet you have forsaken me
and served other gods,
and I won't save you anymore.
Go, cry out to those gods,
the ones that you have chosen.
Let them save you in your time of distress.
And the people of Israel said to the Lord,
We have sinned.
Do to us whatever seems good to you.
Only please deliver us this day.
So they put away the foreign gods from among them
and served the Lord.
Now the question regarding Israel's show of repentance
is whether or not it was genuine.
Did they mean it?
And unfortunately,
we can't know that on our own.
We can't know the truth of what's in someone's heart.
We only have the ability to discern
what we can physically see and physically hear.
And from what we can see in this text,
the people did exactly what we would expect
from someone who was seeking to receive salvation from God.
They confess their sins,
and they put away their foreign gods,
and they turn to proper worship.
Isn't that what we say we're supposed to do?
If there was a sinner and an idolater
who comes into our church today,
and they were asking questions
about how to receive salvation from God,
wouldn't we say,
Confess your sin?
Believe him?
Turn to him?
Worship him?
The problem is the external displays of repentance
do not always issue from a true heart of repentance.
This is why it's entirely possible,
and even common,
for those who at one point
make a credible profession of faith
to somewhere along the way
abandon the gospel,
and as Paul has said in 1 Timothy
in your readings this week
have made shipwreck of that faith.
Trusted church leaders,
beloved companions in the church
can reveal themselves over time
to be counterfeit Christians
and wolves who devour the flock.
And when those tragic moments
inevitably come for all of us,
it's easy to feel like
you should have seen it sooner.
Don't we usually give ourselves
a hard time in those moments?
How could this happen?
How could we be so deceived?
How could we have trusted someone
who surely was so wicked in their heart?
But we can only see what we can see.
We can only hear the profession
the way that we hear it.
We will never be able to peer
inside the recesses
of an individual's heart.
which is also why God commands
that we leave the judgment
to Him.
He's given us parameters
for discerning what may
or may not be true of a person,
but He has not authorized us
to take His place
as their judge.
For example,
God has given the church
the keys to the kingdom.
That's Matthew 16 and Matthew 19,
or excuse me, Matthew 18.
And He has authorized the church
to baptize someone
who has a credible profession of faith.
That's what it means
to have the keys of the kingdom.
We have the gospel message.
We preach the gospel message
and then we discern
people's profession of faith
on the basis of that gospel message.
and their willingness to turn
and live a life
that is in accord
with that gospel message.
And then the church says,
by the authority of God
and the authority of Christ,
passed down from the apostles.
The church looks at an individual
and says,
yes,
your profession of faith
is credible.
Your life seems to match it.
We will baptize you
because that's what we can see
of your life.
That's what we can hear
of your life.
But God has not authorized us
to condemn someone
on the basis of human standards
like political affiliation,
healthcare choices,
whether or not they got the jab
or didn't get the jab,
disagreements on secondary
and tertiary doctrines.
And yet we still feel the temptation
so often,
don't we,
to depart from the gospel
and start to look at things
that are secondary to it
and make our judgments
on someone's validity
of their salvation,
not on the basis
of their profession of faith,
but on the basis
of whether or not
they match up with me
in the most common denominator ways
that are in addition
to the gospel.
God has not authorized us
to do that.
In the final judgment,
we need to acknowledge
that there very well
may be some people
that we baptized
who are condemned.
And there will also be
some people
that we vehemently judged
who are welcomed
by their Savior.
Why?
Because we can only see
what we can see.
And we can only hear
what we can hear.
And we cannot see
an individual's heart.
So,
how can we discern
the sincerity
of Israel's displays
of repentance here?
We can.
But there is more
to this text
than what Israel did.
We also have
God's response
who does know
our hearts,
who knows
what's true
of each and every one of us.
And he judged
Israel's repentance
as inauthentic.
That's why we come
to that conclusion.
Look at verse 11 again.
Look at the words
that the Lord says
to them.
The Lord said
to the people of Israel,
did I not save you
from the Egyptians
and Amorites
and Ammonites
and Philistines
and Sidonians
and Amalekites
and Mayanites?
In other words,
we've been through
this before.
Yet you have
forsaken me
and you've served
their gods
and I will not
save you now.
And you can hear
the sarcasm
in God's voice here.
Go and cry out
to the gods
that you actually
want to serve.
Let them deliver you.
God could see
what was true
of the Israelites'
treacherous hearts.
But even we can see
that the people
had falsified repentance
many times before.
God's response,
it shows that
Israel was not
a prodigal son
who was coming
to their senses
and returning home.
That is not
the picture here.
They're more like
the adulterous spouse
seeking security
and affection
from her husband
only until she finds
someone else
to take as her own.
They're like the addict
who knows that
one friend
or family member
who will always
buy the lies
and help them
in a pinch
until they get
their next score.
They're like
that professing Christian
who Sunday
after Sunday
cries to God
to withhold
the consequences
of the sin
that they intend
to continue in
the very next week.
That's the picture
of Israel.
Over and over
Israel presumed
upon the grace
of God
believing that
following a
formula
of prayer
and penitence
would save them
just long enough
to make them
feel comfortable
to go back
to what they
truly wanted to do.
And God saw
through the lies.
And he in essence
says you made
your bed
now you got
to sleep in it.
Julie's
obviously great
with child.
Last week
she said it's time
that we actually
start to prepare
for this child.
And so we went
into Charlie's room
and we began
to put the crib
together and we
got about halfway
through the crib
and I'm elbow
deep in nuts
and bolts
and screwdrivers
and there was
something about the
crib that she
didn't like.
And I said
Julie
we've made
our bed.
Charlie's
going to have
to sleep in it.
It's essentially
what God's
saying right?
You made
your bed
you got
to sleep
in it.
Cry out
to the gods
that you
actually love
and serve.
See if
they'll save you.
And then
Israel's final
cry in verse
15.
It exposes
their insincerity
even further.
Look at verse
15.
And the people
of Israel
said to the
Lord
we have
sinned
due to us
whatever seems
good to you.
except
for right now.
Only save us
right now.
They didn't even
see their own
contradiction.
Kill us later
if you want
but let us
live now
because of
what we've
just done.
Didn't we do
what we were
supposed to do
God?
Didn't we
follow the
formula?
Didn't we
say the
prayers?
Didn't we
put the
gods in
the trash?
Didn't we
go back
to the
temple?
We did
the stuff
God.
At least
save us
now and
kill us
later.
Do you
see the
contradiction
in what
they're
doing?
They viewed
repentance
as a means
of manipulating
God to
get them
out of a
jam.
They didn't
trust God.
They didn't
love God.
They just
assumed that
some moral
adjustments
would earn
his mercy.
That by
following this
formula they
would handcuff
God and
force him to
do what they
needed him to
do in the
moment.
Daniel
Block says
their
repentance
is external
only.
Theirs is a
conversion of
convenience.
It's not
real.
And we
must beware
lest we
face the
same
disaster
of presuming
upon God's
grace
while
persisting
in sin.
sin.
Let me
give you
another
idiom.
I don't
know if
Chris will
know this
one.
We want
to have
our cake
and eat
it too.
Do you
know that
one Chris?
Have
our cake
and eat
it too?
You know
what I
mean.
We'll
tell you
later.
Here's
what it
means.
We want
the life
that's
offered by
sin.
Right?
We want
the pleasure.
We want
the satisfaction
at least the
temporary
satisfaction
that it
brings.
We want
to live
life our
way.
We want
to do
our
thing.
But at
the same
time we
want to
experience
the security
that only
comes from
God.
And we
try to have
our cake
and eat
it too.
We try to
have both
of those
things.
It doesn't
work that
way.
It's
never
worked
that way.
You can't
just say a
prayer and
make a few
moral adjustments
and expect
that God
will suddenly
be obligated
to reward
you.
That is
not what
the Bible
teaches.
And this
is a
repeated
warning in
the book
of Hebrews
for all
who would
use
confession
as a
tool to
manipulate
God
and simply
escape
consequences.
Hear this
from Hebrews
chapter 10.
If we
go on
sinning
deliberately
after
receiving
the knowledge
of the
truth,
there
no
longer
remains
a
sacrifice
for
sin,
but a
fearful
expectation
of
judgment
and a
fury
of fire
that will
consume
the
adversaries
of God.
Anyone
who has
set aside
the law
of Moses
dies
without
mercy
on the
evidence
of two
or three
witnesses.
How much
more
punishment
do you
think
will be
deserved
by the
one
who has
trampled
underfoot
the
Son
of
God
and
has
profaned
the
blood
of
the
covenant
by
which
he
was
sanctified
and
has
outraged
the
spirit
of
grace
for
we
know
him
who
said
vengeance
is
mine
I
will
repay
and
again
the
Lord
will
judge
his
people.
It
is
a
fearful
thing
to
fall
into
the
hands
of
a
living
God.
Do you
understand
what
the warning
is
there?
It's
a
New
Testament
component
of an
Old
Testament
problem.
Those
of us
who would
try to
come up
with some
formulaic
way
some
set
of
prayers
or some
form
of
action
that we
can
handcuff
God
to doing
what it
is
that we
want
while
persisting
in sin
willfully
deliberately
he says
it's
like
trampling
underfoot
Jesus
Christ
it is
to
profane
the
blood
of
the
cross
the
blood
of
the
covenant
it
is
to
outrage
the
spirit
of
grace
and yet
so
many
times
we
think
we
can
have
it
both
ways
that
we
can
go
on
sinning
while
also
feeling
secure
under
God
and the
reason
is
because
we
don't
know
God
we
don't
know
his
holiness
we
don't
stand
and
tremble
before
him
we're
like
Israel
who
over
and over
come to
the
Lord
do
the
formula
and
expect
that
God
will
just
acquiesce
to
whatever
they
want
look
I
can't
see
your
heart
God
can
that
is
terrifying
it's
terrifying
we
cannot
hide
from
him
and
some
of
you
here
today
you
feel
pretty
comfortable
because
you're
hiding
from
mom
and
dad
or
because
you're
hiding
from
pastor
Jared
or
you're
hiding
from
the
other
people
of
the
!
but
here's
the
truth
of
it
you
can
hide
from
us
for
the
rest
of
your
life
but
you
cannot
hide
your
heart
from
God
he
sees
it
all
he
knows
it
all
and
even
when
you
look
just
like
Israel
and
you
cry
out
and
you
offer
to
throw
your
gods
in
the
trash
can
God
knows
what's
true
in
your
heart
you
cannot
handcuff
him
to do
anything
that
you
want
it
is
a
fearful
thing
to
fall
doesn't
match
what's
true
of
your
words
you
can't
fool
him
or
manipulate
him
and
no
amount
of
religious
work
will
ever
earn
you
his
mercy
because
God's
mercy
can't
be
earned
can't
be
earned
that's
the
first
thing
second
thing
and
it
gets
a
little
happier
okay
you
can
trust
that
he
is
merciful
you
can
trust
that
he's
merciful
look
at
the
last
part
of
verse
16
and
the
Lord
became
impatient
over
the
misery
of
Israel
he
became
impatient
over
the
misery
of
Israel
so
after
the
dramatic
exchange
between
the
Lord
and
Israel
the
end
of
verse
16
is
a
bit
of
a
surprise
isn't
it
God
is
growing
impatient
with
their
insincerity
which
led
to
his
judgment
but
then
we
also
find
that
he's
growing
impatient
with
their
condition
which
now
leaves
the
door
open
for
his
saving
grace
isn't
that
wonderful
and
it's
going
to
take
some
time
in
the
text
as
we're
working
through
judges
to
discover
!
how
this
grace
will
be
shown
in
this
particular
situation
but
at
this
point
in
verse
16
there's
at
least
a
glimmer
of
hope
that
God
will
be
merciful
but
the
key
to
this
text
is
understanding
what
actually
moves
God
to
that
moment
of
mercy
the
potential
of
his
compassion
is
not
linked
to
anything
that
Israel
did
it
is
rooted
in
his
divine
love
for
his
people
it's
not
their
repentance
that
motivates
his
mercy
it is
their
misery
that
motivates
his
mercy
do you
see it
in the
text
look how
he responds
or look
how the
author of
judges
tells us
God
became
impatient
over
the
misery
of
Israel
why
because
he
loves
them
consider
Deuteronomy
chapter
seven
again
I think
I have
this one
on the
screen
if you
want
to
follow
along
the
second
part
of
the
passage
we
read
notice
what
God
says
to
them
you
are
a
people
holy
to
the
Lord
your
God
set
apart
to
God
chosen
by
God
the
Lord
your
God
has
chosen
you
to
be
a
people
for
his
what
treasured
possession
out
of
all
the
peoples
who
are
on
the
face
of
the
earth
why
there's
a
question
assumed
in
this
text
now
why
does
God
hold
Israel
to
be
his
treasured
possession
answer
it
was
not
because
you
were
of
more
number
than
any
of
the
peoples
that
the
Lord
set
his
love
on
you
and
chose
you
for
you
were
the
fewest
!
people
in
other
words
there
was
nothing
attractive
about
them
so
why
did
he
love
them
it
is
because
the
Lord
loves
you
and
is
keeping
the
oath
that
he
swore
to
your
father
you
say
why
did
God
love
Israel
answer
because
he
loved
them
there
wasn't
anything
about
them
that's
attractive
there's
not
anything
about
them
that
motivates
his
love
it's
just
the
fact
that
he
said
his
affection
on
them
he
says
I
love
you
because
I
love
you
Valentine's
Day
is
coming
up
how
many
of
you
wives
would
be
disappointed
if
you
went
to
your
husband
and
you
said
will
you
tell
me
why
you
love
me
and
he
just
said
I
love
you
because
I
love
you
because
I
love
you
meaning
that
love
can't
be
changed
it's
not
attached
to
anything
that
they
are
or
anything
that
they've
done
it
is
set
on
them
in
spite
of
who
they
are
and
what
they've
done
the
Lord
has
brought
you
out
with
a
mighty
hand
he's
redeemed
you
from
the
house
of
slavery
from
the
hand
of
Pharaoh
king
of
Egypt
know
therefore
that
the
Lord
your
God
is
God
the
faithful
God
this
is
who
he
is
he
is
he's
faithful
he
keeps
covenant
he
keeps
steadfast
love
with
those
who
love
him
and
keep
his
commandments
to
a
thousand
generations
you can
trust that
God
is
merciful
because
that's
who
he
is
he's
merciful
how
can
we
trust
that
he
will
be
merciful
to
us
when
we
cry
out
to
salvation
not
because
we
deserve
his
mercy
but
because
he
himself
is
merciful
Dale
Ralph
Davis
helps
us
in
this
and
when
he
writes
our
hope
does
not
rest
in
the
sincerity
of
our
repentance
but
in
the
intensity
of
the
Lord's
compassion
repentance
is a
divine
demand
but
it
places
its
hope
in
divine
grace
rather
than
human
sorrow
and
recognizes
that
any
benefit
received
is not
properly
coerced
but
freely
given
the
sinner's
only
hope
is the
astonishing
grace
of
God
nothing
more
nothing
less
a
proper
understanding
of
repentance
the
thing
that
Israel
seemed
to
miss
is
not
that
repentance
itself
causes
God's
mercy
to
activate
but
rather
is
itself
the
repentance
motivated
by a
recognition
of
God's
grace
in
other
words
we
tend
to
get
it
backwards
our
moral
adjustments
do
not
produce
God's
mercy
as
something
earned
but
when
by
faith
we
trust
that
he
is
merciful
that
faith
will
produce
genuine
repentance
in
us
do
you
see
the
difference
God
isn't
merciful
because
we
repent
we
repent
because
God
is
merciful
and
ultimately
it's
the
gospel
of
Jesus
that
makes
this
so
clear
God
did
not
send
his
son
as
a
reward
for
those
who
do
their
best
and
try
their
hardest
he
sent
his
son
to
die
in
our
place
so
that
his
true
love
and
grace
and
mercy
might
be
put
on
display
for
us
to
see
and
as
we
look
on
that
grace
and
mercy
then
it
would
lead
us
and
motivate
us
to
turn
from
sin
and
trust
in
Jesus
Christ
apart
from
our
works
apart
from
our
religious
formulas
!
apart
from
our
prayers
it's
the
glory
of
the
gospel
that
teaches
us
this
and
it's
all
over
the
Bible
we
love
him
because
he
first
loved
us
Romans
5
while
we
were
still
weak
at
the
right
time
Christ
died
for
the
ungodly
and
then
Paul
muses
on
that
for
just
a
moment
and
he
says
for
scarcely
will
someone
die
for
a
righteous
person
though
perhaps
for
a
good
person
one
would
dare
to
die
but
God
shows
his
love
he
commends
his
love
he
displays
his
love
for
us
in
that
while
we
were
still
sinners
Christ
died
for
us
he
didn't
wait
for
us
to
get
our
act
together
and
say
okay
I'll
send
Jesus
to
get
you
out
of
the
jam
no
he
sends
Jesus
so
that
we
would
get
our
act
together
through
Christ
since
therefore
we have
now been
justified
by his
blood
much
more
shall
we
be
saved
by him
from
his
wrath
for
if
while
we
were
enemies
we
were
reconciled
to
God
by
the
death
of
his
son
much
more
now
that
we
are
reconciled
shall
we
be
saved
by
your
hope
of
salvation
does
not
rest
on
religious
commitments
it
rests
on
the
boundless
grace
of
God
in
Christ
Jesus
and
we
trust
God's
mercy
because
he's
proven
it
through
Jesus
and
he
says
that
anyone
who
comes
to
Jesus
in
faith
will
receive
that
mercy
leading
to
a
heart
of
repentance
this
text
is
one
of
many
throughout
the
scriptures
that
holds
in
tension
God's
severity
and
God's
kindness
and
we
have
to
be
careful
with
that
because
imagine
you've
got
a
string
that's
what
that
analogy
refers
to
right
you've
got
a
string
and
you've
got
two
balls
on
that
string
and
if
you
start
to
emphasize
this
one
over
here
you
lose
this
one
or
if
you
start
to
emphasize
this
one
so
imagine
we've
got
God's
severity
and
we've
got
God's
kindness
and
they're
held
in
tension
with
one
another
and
we
don't
want
to
lose
that
tension
because
the
Bible
shows
that
tension
right
sometimes
we
tend
to
lean
toward
God's
severity
so
much
we
might
would
say
this
is
legalism
or
Phariseeism
that
we
actually
lose
God's
kindness
sometimes
we
lean so
far
to
the
other
side
to
God's
kindness
and
his
grace
and
his
love
let's
say
in
an
extreme
version
this
would
be
antinomianism
or
this
would
be
the
free
grace
movement
that
just
denies
any
form
of
repentance
then
we
lose
God's
severity
and
his
judgment
and
his
justice
and
his
holiness
we
have
to
hold
the
two
intention
that's
what
the
Bible
does
his
mercy
on
one
side
his
justice
on
the
other
in
this
text
it
was
just
it
was
holy
it
was
right
for
God
to
respond
to
Israel's
sin
as
he
did
it
was
right
it
was
also
right
for
him
to
be
mercifully
kind
to
deliver
them
anyways
which
is
what
he's
ultimately
going
to
do
the
tension
courses
through
the
Bible
but
it
ultimately
culminates
at
the
cross
doesn't
it
Jesus
the
sinless
one
took
God's
justice
on
himself
so
that
through
him
we
could
rightfully
receive
God's
mercy
and
we
talk
about
this
all
the
time
when
we
come
to
Christ
it's
not
as
if
God
turns
a
blind
eye
to
our
sins
that's
not
what
happens
he's
holy
justice
must
be
served
every
single
sin
will
be
paid
for
it's
not
that
he
turns
a
blind
eye
to
our
sin
it's
that
he
punishes
Christ
instead
of us
for
that
sin
the
justice
is
poured
out
on
Christ
so
that
his
mercy
might
rightfully
be
given
to
us
that's
not a
mercy
that
can
be
earned
that's
a
mercy
that
was
purchased
by
blood
and
it
isn't
rewarded
to
those
who
get
their
lives
together
or
at
least
pretend
to
it's
received
by
those
who
recognize
that
they
can't
get
their
lives
together
that
they
can't
atone
for
their
sin
apart
from
eternal
hell
and
they
trust
wholly
in
the
person
and
work
of
Jesus
and
the
bottom
line
is
when we
come to
this
text
and we
see
Israel's
folly
we
must
learn
that
we
can't
play
games
with
God
nor
do
we
need
to
play
games
with
God
we
don't
have
to
because
he's
merciful
and
we
can
trust
his
mercy
and
when
you
begin
to
understand
that
mercy
it
will
make
you
want
to
live
for
him
it
will
make
you
want
to
turn
away
from
the
gods
in
your
life
whatever
they
may
be
and
be
faithful