On my own, I would borrow to stretch
To prove a point, impress the crowd
Win a cheer or two, convince myself
That I can, whatever I will, however I please
But trouble bursts when it is time to reach
For same coat I borrowed to hang up there
For then the point is moot, cheers have died
The crowd is gone, and no way I can find
Extra hands to help me fetch what I hung
Far out of my reach: then the shame
I feared and schemed to avert, bursts
In the face I wish I never exposed.
Yet, if humbly in repentance I turn,
Tender mercies arise, fresh and full
To help me learn what I ought.
Grace abounds, robust and fitting
To help me live my size per time.

Food For Thought: God’s tender mercies are always timely! They reach us in time, to deliver us from the destruction we willfully or ignorantly weaved around our heads. But for God’s mercies! Oftentimes, we take mercy for granted. Because God gets us on time, we escape without realizing the extent of what would have happened, the weight of the consequences we just escaped. Sometimes, we don’t even see mercy in the picture of our deliverance or recognize grace for what it is. We may allow ourselves to believe that we made it because we were smart. We may allow ourselves to conclude that it couldn’t have been any worse. Our assumptions and conclusions may lure us farther from the direction that mercy is actually steering us in the time of deliverance. I pray that we will not be blinded by deliverance. Instead, may our eyes be opened to see mercy for what it is: God’s timely intervention that spares us from what is our due. May we never misunderstand, misinterpret or take God’s tender mercies for granted.

Scripture: Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; for Your law is my delight. Psalm 119: 77.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank You for Your mercies that afford me fresh opportunities every day, to walk so close to so holy a God, amen.