God’s Mercy in Judgement Makes Us Glad
“. . . he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him” Proverbs 23: 24b.
This verse tells us a father is glad in or delights in a wise son. Solomon was the wisest man the ever lived (1 Kings 3: 12). So, he must’ve brought great delight to his father David.
Proverbs are stand-alone pithy sayings, and don’t really need context. But click here if you would like to read the passage anyway.
This is an amazing expression of God’s grace and mercy when you stop and consider that Solomon should never even been born. He was the child of an illicit union between David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12: 24).
He wasn’t the actual product of adultery, as the infant who died was (2 Samuel 12: 15-18), but nevertheless, would never have been born were it not for that affair.
And yet, God allowed David to have great gladness and delight in this son. This is how God deals with those who repent of their sin and turn from their wicked ways.
He exchanges judgment for mercy, and punishment for lovingkindness. Now, that doesn’t mean David didn’t suffer for his adultery, because he certainly did (2 Samuel 12: 9-12).
But in wrath, God also remembered mercy (Habakkuk 3: 2). And one way he did this was by giving him a wise son in whom he could delight.
To read another post related to God’s Mercy in Judgment Makes Us Glad, see Wilderness Experience or Pit: Choose Your Path to Freedom.