I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. – 2 Samuel 7v14-15
It is a good thing for us that God’s justice and His mercy work together as evidenced here in David’s life.
God was committed to a Father/son relationship with David. If David sinned God’s justice required a chastening. But at the same time God also reminds us of His mercy – ‘My mercy shall not depart from him.’
I can’t even imagine our fate based only on God’s justice. There is nothing that any one of us can do to placate or satisfy His holy and perfect justice. If He required that from us we would be doomed.
Instead God gives us His mercy. He pictured that with David and fulfilled it in Christ. Once we are in Christ we too have a Father/son relationship. When we see Hebrews 12 tells us that God will chasten us as well. His chastening is not to punish us, for all the punishment was put on Christ. His chastening is a part of His mercy. His chastening in us is to produce the ‘peaceable fruit of righteousness.’
Praise God for the amazing way that His justice, His chastening, and His mercy work hand in hand for His children.
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