It is truly amazing to think of the mercy and forbearance that God bestows upon sinners. Undoubtedly, the Lord has the power to cut off our very existence. The Scripture affirms, “Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust” (Psalm 104:29). Nevertheless, the Father still “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45).
In his second epistle, Peter reiterates that mercy, not weakness, is the motive for divine restraint toward scoffers. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
It is imperative that we understand that although humanity as a whole – both saint and sinner – experiences the benevolence of God, this is not covenant blessing. The Lord’s covenant blessing is reserved strictly for those who love Him with all of their hearts. “But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children. To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them” (Psalm 103:17, 18).
Also, “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant” (25:14). Fearing God by obeying His commands and keeping His covenant is not an option for believers. Without it, we will not partake of the covenant blessings of God.
There are those today who wrongly believe that because they are prospering and are in good health, they are fully reaping the covenant blessings of salvation. The Laodicean church was a prime example of this mistake. Because it was rich and increased with goods, it felt that it was in need of nothing (Revelation 3:17). However, Jesus, the faithful and true witness (1:5; 19:11), revealed to them the reality of the matter: “thou…knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of they nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (3:17, 18).
It is the desire of the heavenly Father for His people always to experience the full inheritance of His covenant love and mercy. The Word is clear on that subject. It states that “all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3) and “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) belong to His children through the blood of the everlasting covenant!
The Apostle John calls such a place of attainment in God “perfect love”. “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected…” (1John 2:5). Knowing that we abide in perfect love is the only true remedy against the dread of judgment. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in the love: but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (4:17, 18).
In order to abide in perfect love there is a holy obligation. Jude, the servant of Jesus, stated, “Keep yourselves in the love of God…” (1:21). the word keep is a military term in the biblical Greek. It means “to guard by keeping the eye upon.” As believers, we must be watchful, ensuring that we are always in the range where God’s love and mercy can reach and bless us.
This can be accomplished by following the message of God through the Prophet Hosea. In Hosea’s day, the people of the Lord had strayed far from the pathway of covenant blessing. “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of they mighty men” (Hosea 10:13). Iniquity, as employed in this verse, is derived from a root word that means “a yoke.” In other words, God’s people were subjugated and ruled by their sins. The cords of their waywardness had fully bound them, and now they were slaves of fleshly lusts!
In spite of such rebellion, God’s desire for them had not changed. He still yearned to extend His loving kindness to them. Yet the pathway of holiness and obedience to His Word had to be followed strictly if they were to appropriate covenant blessing. God said, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (v 12).
From this verse we learn that there are three prerequisites for reaping the harvest of God’s mercy:
Plow – break up the fallow ground
Plant – sow in righteousness
Plead – see the Lord
Plowing or breaking up the fallow ground of our hearts is the first step to recovering the blessings of they Lord. Fallow ground is soil that once was soft but through neglect has become packed down and hard. Such ground is not conducive for planting and harvesting. The only growth that will occur there is that of weeds and thorns.
Though the seed may be the very best, unless the farmer’s plow digs deeply and breaks up the hardness of the earth, there is little hoe of growth. Likewise, all that distracts and hinders spiritual growth must be removed from our hearts or there will be no increase of the word of God. An unsanctified heart will actually suffocate the Word. Jesus admonished, “and these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:18, 19).
To expect a harvest without first preparing the ground is absurd. This was precisely the point the prophet was making when he said, “For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judas and Jerusalem. Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings” (Jeremiah 4:3, 4).
On our own, we are incapable of having a “circumcised heart” that can abide in perfect love and keep the holy commandments of God. But, praise be to the Lord, as we submit to Him, He will prepare our hearts for spiritual development! “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:26, 27).
The concept of sowing in righteousness means to walk in and obey the Word of righteousness from our hearts. Understanding the necessity of such, the psalmist declared, “Thy word have I hid (sown) in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119:11).
The only way to overcome the power of sin today is to “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” (Colossians 3:16). James said that we must “lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). The engrafted Word is, literally, the implanted Word. Do not be deceived! God will only show mercy to them that hide His Word in their hearts and keep His laws and commandments. This is not legalism. Rather, it is obedience springing forth from a heart that loves Jesus Christ! “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me…” (John 14:21).
The third phase toward appropriating God’s mercy is pleading. Hosea said, “It is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). As important and as indispensable as the preparation of the heart and obedience to the Word is, some victories will only be won by prayer. Jesus said, “This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark (9:29). In other words, there is a realm of power that can only be tapped into by those who make prayer and fasting an integral part of their lives and ministry!
Notice something else regarding prayer. It must also be persistent; we are to pray “till he come and rain righteousness.” Many believers today have come so close to obtaining the answer that they were seeking from God but have drawn back on the verge of breakthrough and deliverance.
In Ezekiel 36, after informing the house of Israel of His exceedingly great and precious promises from them, God made this profound declaration: “I will yet for this be inquired by the house of Israel, to do it for them…” (v 37). In other words, the Lord was saying, “Now that I have shared My heart’s desire to bless you and build you up, you must do your part. You must pray until I bring My Word to pass. You must seek Me for the fulfillment of these things.”
Elijah possessed the promise of God. He knew it was the Lord’s will to send rain. “And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth” (1 Kings 18:1), Moreover, he even heard it by faith: “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain” (v41).
Yet he still had to birth it into being by his prayers! “So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare they chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel” (v 42-45).
The great prophet could have popped open his umbrella and confessed rain until he was blue in the face; yet, nothing would have happened. He knew that he must pray God’s promises to pass. He interceded seven times. Seven is the number of completion. It speaks of the consummation of God’s works.
By the word of the Lord, Naaman had to make seven plunges into the river Jordan to be healed (2 Kings 5:14). Seven was the number of times the children of Israel were instructed by God to march around the walls of Jericho to see them collapse without human effort (Joshua 6:15, 16). Also, the purification of the altar by the Levitical priests necessitated sprinkling it seven times (Leviticus 4:6).
By faith, you and I must seek the Lord until we too have obtained the consummation of His will for our lives. The Bible says of the saints of old, “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises…” (Hebrews 11:33).
Beloved of the Lord, rest assured that the Father delights in His children abiding in and reaping the harvest of His perfect love! It is our duty to plow, plant and plead. He will take care of the rest!
