Don’t get all riled up or bent out of shape, if you disagree with me about earthquakes and terrorist attacks often being judgments of God against a city. You can look at scripture through your eyeglasses and I’ll look at it through mine, but the end result will still be a calamity taking place. Okay?
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13)
Over the years, I have heard James 2:13 quoted often by believers and preachers. Yet, they usually omit the first part of the verse and just say,”Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
Omitting the first part of the verse goes against what Jesus said in the Beatitudes:
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
According to Jesus’ words, if we aren’t merciful, then of course, the opposite will occur to us. What’s the opposite of a blessing? A curse.
When we modernists think of curses, we visualize an ugly old hag stirring a boiling mixture in a pot while chanting, “Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn, and caldron bubble.” This is not how it works with God or His ways.
I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. (Psalm 138:2)
God honors His word. Period.
Thus, when Jesus − a Jew − stated the merciful would be blessed, His listeners − almost all Jewish − knew He was referring to the teachings of Moses in the Torah. The listeners also knew that if they were not merciful, they would be cursed with the curses as stated in Deuteronomy 28:15-68.
Check out the possible curses for not honoring God’s word of showing acts of mercy to others. They are certainly not pleasant, especially if you are in the midst of a calamity.
So, if you agree that we Americans could be facing some tough calamities in the near future, then now is a good time to do acts of mercy.
How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. The Lord will protect him and keep him alive, and he shall be called blessed upon the earth; and do not give him over to the desire of his enemies. (Psalm 41:1-2)
