Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. Samuel was charged by the Lord
to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as the king of Israel.
However, the Lord did not tell him which one of those sons it
was to be. So he lined up all of the sons which Jesse presented
to him, and beginning at the eldest, progressed through them.
But none of them was the chosen one. He was somewhat dumbfounded,
and asked Jesse if he had any other sons. Jesse responded that
he did have one other son, but he was just a lad who was keeping
the sheep, as if to say that surely out of all of his fine
sons he would not be the one to be anointed. The Lord had
instructed Samuel concerning the criteria by which the anointed
one was to be manifested. But the Lord said unto Samuel,
Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature,
because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. And so it was that
the one whom the Lord had chosen as the next king of Israel was
the youngest and least likely in the eyes of men to be the
anointed one. Yet King David was a man after
God's own heart, anointed and prepared to fulfill the purpose
of God as the king of Israel in the flesh and as a type of
the true king which should rule over Israel in an everlasting
kingdom. It is totally outside of the scope of the natural man's
ability to look at Lot, Abraham's brother, and judge him as a godly
and righteous man. Here was a man who could not
dwell peaceably with Abraham and desired the city life. He
dwelt not just in any city, but in Sodom, which was renowned
for its debauchery and wickedness. When he was visited by the angels,
he offered up his own two virgin daughters to the men of the city
in order to allay their wicked desires. Then, having fled the
city of Sodom, he fell into a drunken stupor and committed incest with
both of his daughters. Yet we read that Lot was a just
man. The natural man recalls at this
notion, even as they do against what Paul said, a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not
by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. Lot is not counted as just and
righteous in the sight of God because of any deeds which he
had done, any more than he could be counted unjust for any sin
which he might be guilty of. Those who are just in the sight
of God are those who have had the righteousness of Christ imputed
to them. This is done by the decree of
God, based on the complete fulfillment of the law by the obedience of
Jesus Christ in their behalf, and the exact payment in full
for all of their sins by the shedding of Christ's own precious
blood. It makes no difference what the judgment of man may
be, for the Lord seeth not as man seeth. He makes righteous
judgment based upon his own purpose, to justify the ungodly and to
save sinners. And Jesus answering said unto
them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that
are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. The gospel is good news indeed
to sinners deep in debt. The man who has no works to plead
will thankful be for it. The man that feels his guilt
abound and knows himself unclean will find the gospel's joyful
sound as welcome news to him. The Lord is pleased in time to
manifest those He has chosen as the objects of His mercy,
by performing a work of grace in them which is known as the
new birth. According to His timetable, they are awakened by a spirit
to see themselves as unworthy sinners, with no hope of saving
themselves, and cause to hear the sweet sound of the gospel,
which becomes in their ears a sweet savor of life. The continued
operation of this same spirit in them causes them to see sin
in a completely different light than they could ever before view
it. It is this operation which caused Lot to be vexed with the
wickedness that was around him, and I might add was still very
much present in him. The Apostle Paul describes this
phenomenon in Romans. For I know that in me, that is,
in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. For the will is present
with me. But how to perform that which
is good I find not. For the good that I would I do
not, but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that
I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth
in me. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? Those who know themselves to
be wicked sinners of the worst sort will find great comfort
in knowing that the Lord is the friend of publicans and sinners. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.