Psalm 78 is a song of remembrance of the many times God in
His mercy chose to have compassion on the Israelites instead of bringing down His
judgement which was rightly deserved. Verse 38 says, “But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity,
and destroyed them not: yea, many a time
turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.”
As Christians it is easy for us to judge
others whether we mean to or not. I can
always tell when I’m in a “judgy” mood, and I hate that it controls how I feel
and think. I remember hearing a preacher
say once, “We always judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge others by
their actions.” I’d take it a step
further and say, "We often judge ourselves by our intentions and judge others by
our expectations." This is completely
unfair. One of the pastors I used to
serve under taught me an invaluable truth one time when I was in the wrong. As I stood there bracing myself for the
telling off I knew I deserved, he said, “Oh, that’s okay. I always judge on the 90% and not the
10%.” His mercy surprised me. It surprised me mostly because if the roles
were reversed I might not have been as merciful and so, therefore, it never
crossed my mind that I might be shown mercy. The mercy he showed me that day effected me in several ways. Not only was a weight lifted off me because he wasn’t upset, it also made me want to do my best to live up to the 90%. It also challenged me to show more compassion to others. Since
that time I have always tried to live by the rule “Judge on the ninety percent
not the ten.”
Yes! Good stuff, Shari.
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