'I did not deserve it'

'The Lord is good to all, he has compassion on all he has made'. Psalm.145: 9

This confession which, David the writer of this Psalm, makes comes from a deep personal experience of personal walk with God. David had faced attack from wild animals while shepherding the sheep; he suffered from moral fall in his life; there was threat to his life from King Saul; he spent long years in wilderness even after having been anointed as the king; there were many occasions of despair....

None of those terrible experiences get reflected in his personal confession of the reality of God. He is moved and exuberant about God's attribute of compassion. The word compassion is profound in its meaning. It is a blend of mercy, favor, kindness and love. It is to an offender God communicates His compassion. It is the lost sheep, who finds favour with God.

Jesus of Nazareth showed compassion to one thief on the cross who turned to Him for forgiveness. Jesus was moved with compassion on several occasions such as when He saw five thousand people staying on to listen to Him without food, or when a woman was brought to Him by the Jews ready to stone her to death for her immoral life; or when a woman sought His forgiveness by wiping His feet with her tears,  according to the gospel narration.  All these were occasions, when Jesus  acted compassionately, when the situation ordinarily did not merit any favourable consideration.

God, the father is lavish in compassion and slow in judgement. This is the good news, Jesus of Nazareth came to bring. He laid down his life lovingly to reveal God's love for humankind.

Michael got up in the morning fearing a terrible punishment for breaking the crystal bowl, which his father had got as a gift at his university graduation. Instead, his father greeted him with a hug and showed him the mended crystal bowl, looking almost original, with a candle lit inside. His father spent hours at night glueing the pieces together. While the father was doing this, Michael's mother had baked a cake to celebrate the restoration next morning. At break fast, Michael said to his parents, 'I did not deserve this'.

God's nature is self giving. A family setting is the place for demonstrating compassion. That is how one generation can commend God's ways to another (Psalm.145:4).