Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

ABRAHAM AS INTERCESSOR 18 : 1-3 3
‘Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to.awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway,
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons justice, Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy:
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
Deeds of mercy.”
Let us consider in this connection, the following pertinent
suggestions (from IBG, 622, 623): 1. Who is most likely
to come to the help of evil men? Can those who are evil
trust their own kind for support? Of course not. “Men
who are thoroughly bad are as merciless to others of their
kind as a wolf pack is merciless to the wounded wolf. . . ,
It is the consistent badness in the bad and the inconsistent
badness in the hypocritically good which make them cruel,
and the generosity of those whom the respectable may
class as bad men is due to the great warm fact that there
is so much actual goodness in them. So also the highest
generosity and compassion are in those who are neither all
bad, nor half bad, nor half good, but who, like Abraham,
come as near to thoroughgoing goodness as human nature
can. The most merciful men all through the Bible are
the best men-Joseph, Moses, David, Stephen, Barnabas.
Supremely so was Jesus, who in his perfect righteousness
could be the friend of publicans and sinners. There is no
more corrupting sin that censoriousness and self -righteous-
ness. Let church members examine their own hearts. The
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