EPISODE 320 – “IT IS NOT OVER YET!” SAYS MERCY

Saturday 9th December, 2023

“IT IS NOT OVER YET!” SAYS MERCY

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments”

Deuteronomy 7:9 (NKJV)

God’s Mercy is not temporal. The MERCY of God is everlasting.

From Psalm 136 we see the phrase “His Mercy endures forever” about 26 times. This is more than a strong affirmation.

God’s Mercy is perpetual or without end.

It can never be over with Mercy. Mercy will always come through, as long as you turn to the Lord.

Have you come to a point in your life where you feel you have failed completely and it is over with you?

The Lord’s Mercy endures forever.

There are times you think all you deserve is punishment and disgrace. You may find yourself in that state where nothing glorious might happen. Cheer up! And turn to God one more time, for His Mercy endures forever!

At that time when the Philistines were in control of the Israelites for about 40 years; the Lord raised Samson to deliver Israel from the hands of their enemies. Sampson was the greatest threat to the Philistines at the time.

The birth of Samson was the demonstration of God’s Mercy to the Israelites.

They had done so much evil in the sight of God, that they turned away from Him and were greatly oppressed by the Philistines.

The only help God gave them was the birth of Samson. (Judges 13:1-5).

Samson’s mandate was to begin to deliver Israel out of the hands of the Philistines.

Most teachers of the word refer to Samson as “a physically strong man but morally weak”.
They often conclude that Samson failed.

Was that really the case?

Did Samson fail?

No please!

Samson fulfilled His purpose. And his life was a beautiful picture of God’s Mercy!

Samson had a glorious beginning with so much hope for the Israelites. However, he made many mistakes and made some huge mistakes.

The latter part of Samson’s story was filled with hopeless scenes.

Samson slayed a lion with his bare hands (Judges 14:5-9), and with only a jawbone of an ass, he defeated and massacred an entire Philistines (they were about 1000 in number).

The Philistines had been fighting Samson for 20 years and not once did they defeat him. They couldn’t defeat him when they tied him up, they couldn’t defeat him when they surrounded him at night in Gaza.

Yet this man, Samson was finally arrested after they got his hair shaved completely. In his weakest moment, they quickly bound him and gouged out his eyes. He was thrown into prison where they bound him in shackles and made him grind grain.

This was not just a hopeless situation for Samson, but the entire nation of Israel.

No matter how you find yourself at the lowest state of life, don’t feel despised by God. Don’t assume God has left you. Even when it was obvious your mistakes and disobedience contributed to your downfall, trust in God’s mercy to give you a hand.

You may be mocked or become an object of amusement, but continue to trust in God’s mercy. Be rest assured that you will not fail, according to His mercy.

The Philistines thought it was over with Samson.

But Mercy said, “IT IS NOT OVER YET!”

They didn’t know his hair was growing and there is such a thing as the Mercy of God.

Sometimes it may seem you have lost all your strength, dexterity and grace. You just need to trust in God, who is the source of all grace and strength.

The most beautiful and inspiring scene in the entire story of Samson was this:

“Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime.” Judges 16:28-30 (NLT).

Samson knew the Lord was with him. He understood the perpetuity of God’s Mercy. And also understood the need to fulfill his purpose.

The scriptures says, Samson achieved more in his death than his entire life. When God’s mercy showed up, Samson achieved more in a day than what he did in 20 years.

Beloved, “IT IS NOT OVER YET!!”

Hallelujah!