269. Compassion according to Mercies
Lamentations 3:32 But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.
God always acts according to His character. God has several attributes, but a case can be made that Love is the basic character of God, which motivates and drives the decisions, actions and behavior of God. Love compels the Lord almost beyond His own ability to control it. Love, for instance, moves Him to give His only Son. In this way God loved the world. The love of God drives the Lord to do what He does throughout the Bible. In one sense, the Bible is the historical record of God expressing His love for human beings. The other primary character of God that makes Him do what He does is Holiness, or Justice. It is the Love and the Justice of God that put His Son on the cross to die for our sins. Both love and justice come together in the death of Jesus to solve the contradiction between the two. Will God be just or will He have mercy? Will God judge or will He forgive? Yes, He does both. Justice justly judges the sins of all people in Christ so that God can justly forgive their sin, and so completely satisfy His Love.
For this reason, because of Christ, we take hold of this promise that the Lord will have compassion according to His many mercies. God the Father desperately wants to show mercy, like the father of the prodigal son. Compassion is the practical expression of the love of God, exhibited primarily on the cross. We can believe the promise: God will have compassion. Why? It is because of the multitude of His mercies. How do we know? We know because we see it in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. This event is the practical outworking of mercy, grace and love. We see it; we believe it; we have no doubt: God will have compassion.
There are several reasons why Jesus does the miracles and healings He does in the Gospels, but compassion is one of the main reasons for the miracles. For example, why did He feed the 5000? He had compassion on them. Several times His power went from Him to heal, mixed with compassion for the sufferer. Ultimately, Jesus laid down His life because He had compassion on you and me. The compassion of the Lord is very practical and specific: it feeds, it provides, it cares, it heals, and finally, it saves. The Lord has more love in Him than we can ever comprehend, and it flows out of Him in extravagant compassion. God has compassion; we are loved.