On Judgment Day, the balance between justice and mercy will be so
perfect that we will not be able to question it. This is the greatest
lesson I learnt from David of the Old Testament.
I can think of no one who would have wept more when David
forfeited his exaltation than the Saviour himself. To lose someone with so much
promise and faithfulness would have been agonizing to Him. As a youth, he was
said to be a man after the Lord’s “own heart” (1 Sam 13:14) and as a man, he
spoke by the Spirit and had many revelations (see Guide to the Scriptures:
David)
If there was anyone the Saviour could have been
excessively merciful to, it would have been David but where would that have
left Uriah, a man of principle and loyalty, and his innocent blood that was
spilt? The man who had no say….whose wife was taken from him, who suffered an
unjust death??? One truth remains….mercy
cannot rob justice (Alma 42:25).
I saw the perfect nature of the God that we worship
and trust through this story. He knows
all: our hearts, our capabilities, our intents, our weaknesses, our pains, our
desires, our sufferings…. everything that could induce mercy….but yet He obeys
all the laws that He himself is governed by. Because He is the giver of law and
the sustainer of law, it is impossible for Him to violate law, including the
law of justice (see Discourses of Brigham Young p1, Mormon Doctrine p 432-3,
Mediation and Atonement p 168).
So a king who was destined for exaltation fell
from God’s grace and became an example of the perfect balance of justice and
mercy. The justice was the loss of exaltation but the mercy was the gift of
resurrection to all the human family including those who commit murder and
inherit a much lesser kingdom of glory which, nevertheless, surpasses all
understanding (D&C 132:38,39; D&C 76:89). David’s repentance and godly
sorrow led to his gratefulness that the Saviour will not leave his soul in hell
(Psalms 16:10; Acts 2:27; Acts 2:25-28; 13:22-37; Isaiah 55:3). This hope of resurrection of the unjust is known as
‘the sure mercies of David’ (see Bruce R. McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p
272).
The Psalms of David, who
‘foresaw the Lord always before his face’, are heart wrenching evidence of his
unfailing love and praise of Jehovah (Acts 2:25). Even though he committed a grievous
sin, he never turned away from the God of Israel. May we follow suit when sin
finds us and turn to Him who can forgive and yet rescue our souls from
everlasting misery and may we harbour in our heart David’s testimony forever:
“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength,
in whom I will trust, my buckler, and the horn (strength, power) of my
salvation….” (Psalms 18:2).
He
is the one and only giver of mercy, forgiveness and salvation and there is none
else….not in heaven above, or earth beneath…..nothing, nobody,
nowhere…..(Deuteronomy 4:35,39;5:8 ;Isaiah 43:10-11; 45:5,6,14,18,22; 46:9;
D&C 76:1; 2 Nephi 25:20; 31:21; Moses 6:52)
Will You come and carry me
When all my strength is gone?
Will Your mercy spill from You
When I can walk no more?
Will Your mercy lift me higher
To glimpse my eternal home?
Will I see my soul there
Before Your gilded throne?
When the sum of my life is done
Will You bring me home to keep?
I’ll want to kneel and honour You
Before Your Mercy Seat.
- CATHRYNE ALLEN
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