Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church
The LORD your God is a COMPASSIONATE GOD (Deut 4.31). The compassion of God is an attribute of God’s essential nature and marvelous being whereby He willingly shows mercy and kindness to His creation. Some have called it a ‘core’ attribute of God. It flows from His wondrous nature. It’s the spring through which He manifests expressions of love and tenderness toward weak and pitiful creatures.
Psalm 86.15 describes God as being “full of compassion”. The Hebrew word for ‘compassion’ speaks of a deep, internal, emotion-filled love for an object. It is used for a mother’s tender love toward her nursing baby (Isa 49.15). It speaks of a father’s kind love toward his very own children (Psalm 103.13). The word underscores the deep and tender love God has for weak creatures. God knows the weaknesses of fallen and helpless creatures. He can sympathize and relate to human temptation and weakness (though without sin!). He never excuses our sins or overlooks sin or winks at sin but He does have much tender mercy and internal affection toward His creatures in such a miserable condition.
The Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the King of glory and the God of all majesty pronounced denunciation judgments on unbelievers (Matthew 23). And yet, in that very same context and setting, our Lord has tender compassions toward unbelieving Jerusalem wishing and yearning for her repentance unto life! (Matthew 23.37). What melting mercy and what undeserved grace and what lavish tenderness our sovereign Lord shows toward men!
Think of it: a bruised reed He will not break (Matthew 12.20)! What a loving and understanding Savior! Our Lord saw the crowds and He had compassion for them and didn’t want them to faint on their journey home (Mark 8.2). Our Lord saw a weeping woman and had great compassion toward her (Luke 7.13).
Think of it: the Lord God of heaven and earth is ‘full of compassion and is merciful’ (James 5.11). The prophet Joel pleaded with sinners to return to the Lord God in genuine repentance for He is gracious and compassionate (Joel 2.13). O sinner, wretched sinner, hell-bound sinner, sin-loving transgressor, turn to God thru faith in Christ right now! God, being compassionate, forgives iniquity and is willing to not destroy sinners (Psalm 78.38). But if you slight his compassions now, He will cease His invitations to you when you don’t expect it, and there will be no mercy for you but only justice. Flee to God’s merciful compassion through repentance from sin and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from the Almighty judgment of God that will unendingly crush you in hellfire for endless eternities to come!
But in Christ, we know that His lovingkindnesses never fail and His compassions never fail (Lamentations 3.22). Child of God, adopted into God’s family through His sovereign predestination (Ephesians 1.5), remember and rejoice that you now stand in the secure position of being chosen of God, holy and beloved (Colossians 3.12). And because you have received compassion from God, now you must show this same compassion toward others (Colossians 3.12b). Be astonished and let this truth humble your heart that God who said: "I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” has selected you to be an eternal object of His passionate and kind compassions forevermore (Romans 9.15). Let the tender, emotional, kind, sweet compassions of your Savior fill you with hope and rest, joy and worship, humility and a holy resolve to show this same compassion toward others! All for the glory of your God who is the “Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exodus 34.6)!
**More entries from this ongoing blog series on the ATTRIBUTES OF GOD are here.
