Category: Forgiveness

2 Samuel 9:1,7,8 NIV
“Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.”

Mephibosheth bowed down and said, “What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?”

[Excerpt from Zara Jariol Testimony]
The session leader shared the words “broken vessel,” and I remember thinking, “Yes, my dad needs to be a broken vessel!” but instead he said that I am to be the broken vessel.

Song of Songs 2:4 NIV
“Let him lead me to the banquet hall, and let his banner over me be love.”

God’s hesed kindness shepherded and prepared David throughout his life to not just be king but to be a servant. As David had received God’s kindness, he then cared for Mephibosheth like a good shepherd by leading him to good pasture and fully redeeming his livelihood. He also welcomed him to the king’s banqueting table. Mephibosheth had probably expected death. This was too good to be true. The banner over his life was no longer shame and fear but a song of love.

Prayer: Father, empower us to be the broken vessels of your kindness so that others may come and join the song of the redeemed at your banqueting table. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song, “Death Was Arrested” by North Point Worship (click here).

– CH

1 Samuel 26:11a NIV
But the Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed.

When encouraged to kill Saul in defense of his life, David’s heart attitude was essentially, “only you are God, I am not.” David lived his life bowed down before the very eyes of God. He refused to harm the Lord’s anointed.

Zara shared that after meeting God and his love, she received his supernatural forgiveness and freedom.

[Excerpts from Zara Jariol Testimony]
“…how can you truly forgive if you have not experienced true forgiveness yourself? For me, that happened my junior year in college when I experienced a love like no other… For the first time ever, I saw my dad and I on the same level – sinners in need of God’s forgiveness. I received much healing and forgiveness from God that year.

… God rendered me incapable of holding what my dad did to me against him. What my dad did no longer hurt me. And more than wanting my dad to change, I wanted him to know the Lord… I can’t help but be in awe because I’m forgiven and free, and so is my dad!”

When we encounter the greatness and truth of who God is, God’s rightness takes over and the power of his love and forgiveness brings us freedom like no other.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help us to encounter you in Spirit and truth today that we may experience afresh your forgiveness and freedom. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song, “Great Things” by Phil Wickham (click here).

– CH

Psalm 130:1-4 NIV
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;

2 Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?

4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

Luke 23:34a
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

“The point of Psalm 130 is to remind people that the darkness of the depths is not life as God intended it – that such darkness is not the end of our story… One narrative exchanged for another – darkness for light, death for life…the psalmist leans forward toward the God he knows – the one who chooses to love us, redeem us, forgive us… the one who invites us all into a new narrative, a narrative marked by grace.” [W.D. Tucker & J.A. Grant. Psalms, Vol. 2. The NIV Application Commentary, 829.]

We no longer live life “out of the depths.” We now live in the new narrative of our Father’s grace flowing from Jesus. Our record has been made clean! We experience this reality every day as we confess our sins, for God delights in forgiving us and pouring out his mercies through the Spirit.

Prayer: Father, thank you that you have made us clean. Help us to live in this amazing grace that flows from Jesus into our lives through your mercies new every morning! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s Worship to the song, “Mercies” by Matt Redman (click here).

– CH

Exodus 34:6 NIV
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness”

1 Samuel 20:14-15a NIV
“But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, 15 and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family…”

2 Samuel 9:3 NIV
The king asked, “Is there no one still alive from the house of Saul to whom I can show God’s kindness?”

God describes himself as hesed – compassionate, gracious, abounding in love and faithfulness. God shows himself by “doing” hesed in his relationship with his people, often translated as showing kindness or grace.

“What makes hesed an act of ‘kindness’ is often the fact that one member in the relationship is in a position to render help or aid to the other, who is for one reason or another in need and unable to help or aid the other.” [Bill T. Arnold. 1&2 Samuel. The NIV Application Commentary, 506.]

The story of David and Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 9 is a beautiful picture of God’s loving kindness in action. We were utterly helpless and lost in sin without hope until God “did” hesed – he poured out immeasurable grace, coming to us and saving us through Jesus. Now we too can show this same kindness to others.

Prayer: Father, may your immeasurable grace abound to us that we may express your hesed kindness to others. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song, “Same Jesus” by Matt Redman (click here).

– CH

Let’s read aloud together the following scripture, confession and prayer:

Psalm 103:1-5 NIV
1 Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
3 who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Jesus is the one through whom alone God established his kingdom and acted for the salvation of the world, enabling all nations on earth to be blessed… The gospel declares that, on the cross of Christ, God took upon himself, in the person of his Son and in our place, the judgment our sin deserves. In the same great saving act, completed, vindicated and declared through the resurrection, God won the decisive victory over Satan, death and all evil powers, liberated us from their power and fear, and ensured their eventual destruction. God accomplished the reconciliation of believers with himself and with one another across all boundaries and enmities. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself.’ How we love the gospel story! [The Cape Town Commitment – We love the gospel of God.]

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for the power of the Gospel. All our sins are forgiven by your death on the cross! We give you the highest praise! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to “Highest Praise” by Phil Wickham (click here)

– CH