"And therefore will The LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you, and therefore will He be exalted, that He may have mercy upon you: for The LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for Him." [Isa 30:18]
Throughout Israel’s history, (and truly, probably most of ours as well), they were inclined to rebel against God and to go after idols. Instead of submitting themselves to The LORD, Israel often chose to rebel, doing their own desires by their own power, in their own way. Instead of worshipping The LORD singularly, Israel often accompanied their worship and trust of God with other gods and nations, not fully resting upon Him, nor fully listening to His word/His prophets. In Isaiah The LORD says,
“This is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of The LORD: which say to the seers, see not; and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.” [Isa 30:9-11]
To this, The LORD said, “therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall;” [Isa 30:13] that is, Israel’s trust upon lies would be like trusting in a wall with a crack in it, a wall which was destined to fall very soon, and could not bear much weight. The LORD often had said to Israel, “return!” but Israel had often said, “we shall not!”
“For thus saith The Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; in returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses…” [Isa 30:15-16]
The encouragement for today arises not from Israel’s rebellion, nor from the necessary punishment and judgment that The LORD must inflict upon them to bring them back to Himself. No, but the encouragement lies in the unplumbable depths of God’s mercies. See how The LORD says, even after issuing forth a stern warning of judgment to come, “and therefore will The LORD wait, that He may be gracious unto you…” [Isa 30:18]
The LORD is not going to, in this particular context, immediately judge Israel. Though punishment to come has been announced if Israel will not repent, yet God is not going to quickly execute it. And why is that? Because The LORD desires to show mercy and grace. The LORD is waiting patiently: not so that He can store up more anger; not so that He can plan and think out His judgments upon Israel. No, but The LORD will “wait, that He may be gracious.” And why is The LORD forbearing from punishing us at times, or from dealing more strictly and harshly with us? That He may be gracious to us. The LORD does not desire to execute judgment or punishment upon us, nor to cause grief; as it is written, “mercy exults over judgment;” and, “He doth not afflict from out of His heart nor grieve the children of men.” [Jam 2:13, Lam 3:33] God’s judgments are “His strange work.” [Isa 28:21] They are a work altogether strange; not because The LORD does not judge, nor yet because He does not know how to judge; but they are strange in that His fierce judgments are rare and uncommon. It is far more common and natural for The LORD to show or to be seen showing love, mercy, grace, and abundant forgiveness. These are the chief characteristics which define our God, even as it is written, “God is love.” [1 Jn 4:8] Does this mean that God never judges? Or that anger is not apart of His person? God forbid. But we do see that The LORD strongly desires to show all men grace and mercy, and will do all things in His power, including waiting and forbearing punishment, so that He might be free to show such things. This wonderful trait of The LORD: His strong desire to show mercy and grace, which rises far above His desire to judge and punish, is something that we are to strive after as well. In Proverbs we read, “the discretion of a man deferreth his anger; and it is his glory to pass over a transgression.” [Prov 19:11] Just as it is with God, so too it should be with the men who fear Him and love Him: it should be their glory to pass over and forgive transgression; it should be their boasting quality that they are quick to forgive, and slow to judge. As Christ tells us, “be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” [Lk 6:36] Let us therefore, by The Spirit of God, emulate and produce this quality of Jesus Christ and The Father: that we would forbear from judgment, from punishment, and from harsh observations in others’ lives, so that we might give others space to change and repent, and so that we might therefore, as The LORD desires to do, give grace and show mercy.
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