Psalm 99:8

Psalm 99:8

A forgiving God

We have seen how Moses, Aaron and Samuel are singled out here as being men who faithfully interceded for God’s people. They devoted themselves to pleading Israel’s cause and listening for God to make known His will. These men even dared to try and bargain with the Lord, such was their heart for the people that they beseeched Him to be merciful and to hold back on His judgements. 

God answered the pleas of these intercessors who cared so passionately for their fellow countrymen. God forgave the sins of the people, He forgave their law-breaking, their lack of faith, their disobedience and their complaining. However, this verse tells us something more, for while God forgives, that does not mean that He does not punish. Our deeds and words and thoughts carry consequences. Just as we may forgive a child its disobedience and its naughtiness, that child needs to know that sin has consequences, that misdeeds have to be put right, that wrongs must be righted. In fact, to forgive and not expect retribution is usually a recipe for disaster, the child grows up to believe that they can “get away with it.” True parental care involves discipline tempered with love and children grow up best knowing this.

The Lord God knows this and He treated His Chosen People accordingly; they sinned, and He forgave, but His forgiveness did not remove the requirement for punishment. 

The wonder of the Gospel is that our sins are forgiven but the punishment for those sins has been borne by Yeshua. That does not mean that we escape the consequences of our actions in this life, but the eternal punishment of exclusion from God’s presence has been paid by another, we are no longer condemned by our sin, we are redeemed! Hallelujah!

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