Compassion

The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against his people became so great that there was no remedy.

Therefore he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their youths with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or young woman, the aged or the feeble; he gave them all into his hand. All the vessels of the house of God, large and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king and of his officials, all these he brought to Babylon. They burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious vessels. He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had made up for its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

2 Chronicles 36:15-21

Doctors can get upset with us when we do not follow their orders. What about God? Imagine how He feels when we ignore his commandments to us? He is the only One with perfect knowledge of what is good for us, yet we often behave as if we know better. This was the case in ancient Israel. Thinking they knew more than God did, the people followed their own way. As a result, Jerusalem and the house of God fell into the hands of the Babylonians. This is also the case with us when God’s instructions seem difficult. We may conclude that He had exceptions in mind for our particular circumstance. God teaches us what is best. He patiently presents what is right and good, and allows us to choose it. God’s teaching may not always make sense, but it is always senseless to think we know better.

Our Daily Bread – June 10, 2006