God's Mercy vs. Men's Demands

“O Lord, have mercy on me in my anguish. My eyes are red from weeping; my health is broken from sorrow. I am pining away with grief; my years are shortened, drained away because of sadness. My sins have sapped my strength; I stoop with sorrow and with shame. I am scorned by all my enemies and even more by my neighbors and friends. They dread meeting me and look the other way when I go by. I am forgotten like a dead man, like a broken and discarded pot. I heard the lies about me, the slanders of my enemies. Everywhere I looked I was afraid, for they were plotting against my life.” (Psalm 31:9-13 TLB).

We stated at the beginning of our study in this particular Psalm that the thing that makes this Psalm interesting is David’s plea for deliverance here is not from the foxhole but from the palace; the enemies he fears are not military generals but malicious gossips. How do we know that? Look again at verse 13, “I heard the lies about me, the slanders of my enemies. Everywhere I looked I was afraid, for they were plotting against my life.”

Experience tells me that physical wounds are far easier to heal than the emotional wounds caused by thoughtless words or the character assassination of unscrupulous gossips. It is much easier to defend ourselves against physical attacks than it is to protect ourselves against the character attacks of those unscrupulous people who spread rumors and lies. Look at the description David gives, “My eyes are red from weeping; my health is broken from sorrow. I am pining away with grief; my years are shortened, drained away because of sadness . . . I stoop with sorrow and with shame. 11I am scorned by all my enemies and even more by my neighbors and friends. They dread meeting me and look the other way when I go by. I am forgotten like a dead man, like a broken and discarded pot.” Sound familiar? When lies are spread, even close friends can be affected.

Did you notice the omission of the middle part of verse 10? That was on purpose. Let me give you those words now: “My sins have sapped my strength.” David was not totally innocent. There was truth to the rumors, and although David had dealt with his sin and found the forgiveness of God, the forgiveness of men is another thing! How sinfully proud it is of men to retain an accusing memory of another’s past failures and demand a ‘pound of flesh’ before we will be ‘satisfied’ that our brother or sister is ‘truly repentant.’ What a double standard we have when we demand mercy for ourselves but dispense ‘justice’ to others!

Perhaps you find yourself in a position like David. I urge you like David to cry, “O Lord, have mercy on me in my anguish.” Here’s is what you will find: “. . . you make your mercy new everyday. You change my life in so many ways You cradle me in your sweet grace, You fill me, yeah. Yesterday, today, forever more, there’s one thing I know for sure; fresh as the morning dew, You make your mercy new, every morning.” (From Philipps, Craig & Dean: New Mercy).