Psalm 106:46

Psalm 106:46

Show them mercy

Prior to the Dedication of the Temple, King Solomon prayed a powerful prayer for His people, it includes a plea that when the people sinned and were “given over to their enemies”, that the Lord would hear their cries and forgive and restore them. 1 Kings 8:46-53. 

King Hezekiah had a similar request when he spoke to the people, “If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. (Echoes of Exodus 34) He will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.” 2 Chronicles 30:9.

On his return from Babylon to Jerusalem, Ezra the priest prayed, “Though we are slaves, our God has not forsaken us in our bondage. He has shown us kindness in the sight of the Kings of Persia: He has granted us new life to rebuild the house of our God and repair its ruins, and He has given us a wall of protection in Judah and Jerusalem.” Ezra 9:9.

Jeremiah was another who reiterated God’s promise to restore the people to their land when they cried out for His forgiveness and for liberation from the captivity of Babylon. “Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him, declares the Lord, for I am with you and will save you and deliver you from his hands. I will show you compassion so that he will have compassion on you and restore you to your land.” Jeremiah 42:11-12.

This all makes me wonder now about the cries of the Holocaust victims as they queued outside the gas chambers and suffered in their prison camps. Was it their cries that caused the Lord God to forgive the Jews and to save them from their captors? Was it their pleas that opened the way for the creation of the state of Israel just 3 years after the end of the Second World War? After all, God always keeps His promises, doesn’t He? 

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