When you turn and obey

When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. – Deuteronomy 4v30-31

Here we see more evidence of a merciful and forgiving God. God warns Israel that they are going to go astray when they go into the world. He knows their nature and their inclination to join to the world. He knows that there even going to accept and take part in the worship of false gods.

We might think that God would have had enough by now. But no, His mercies never fail, they are new every morning. His compassions go on and on and on.

God makes them a promise. ‘When those days of distress come, if you will turn to the Lord and obey His voice, He will not forsake you, destroy you, or forget His promises. He is a merciful God.’

God’s mercy is astounding. He wants His people to come to Him and even disobedient Israel is not without hope. When they weary of their sin and are distressed God will still be ready to hear them and forgive them if they will turn.

Satan may lead us to think that we are too bad for God to hear. When we accept that we are ignoring His mercy.

An interesting thought here. This may very well also a prophecy of the gospel. The term ‘latter days’ often refers to the time of Christ. Maybe we see here just a hint of God’s ultimate expression of mercy.