The LORD is Gracious and Full of Compassion!
June 16, 2025
“The LORD is gracious and full of compassion” (Psalm 111:4).
Dear Praying Friends:
As we saw last week, when the Scriptures repeat something, we must take notice.
“The LORD is gracious and full of compassion” is obviously a shortened version of what God said when he proclaimed his name to Moses: “The LORD [Yahweh], the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering [slow to anger] and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).
These momentous words recur, in one form or another, in Nehemiah 9:17; Joel 2:13; Psalm 103:8; and elsewhere. Clearly, they deserve our careful attention.
And belief.
Yesterday, as I pondered some of the ways in which my father had shown love and kindness to me, my mood suddenly turned from gratitude to grief, when I recalled how I had often failed to appreciate what he had done.
Then, as is my custom on Sunday afternoons, I read Isaiah 40, which opens with “'Comfort, yes, comfort My people!’ Says your God. ‘Speak comfort to [the heart of] Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare [or, penal servitude] is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins” (Isaiah 40:1-2).
You will recall that the first three Gospels quote Isaiah 40 early in their narratives, showing that God’s comfort and love came to full embodiment in Jesus Christ.
So, I claimed this promise of forgiveness and turned my attention to how I could replicate some of my father’s good qualities in my own life.
Thank you for praying last week. I finally completed the long article on Samuel Wells Williams and sent it to Casey to post here on the BDCC. God also helped me to make progress on my autobiography and on the notes to Hebrews 7, and I enjoyed several long conversations with Chinese and Caucasian friends.
While in Taipei, I spent precious hours with Paul, the head of Campus Press, the leading Christian publishing house in Taiwan. They published my six-volume abridgment of the Chinese edition of Carl Henry’s God, Revelation and Authority last year. Alas, Christians aren’t reading many books these days, especially works of theology. We discussed ways that this critical resource could be made known to more potential readers, and I sent some sets to seminary professors.
Paul also faces other immense challenges in a very difficult environment.
“He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever” (Psalm 111:9).
Yours in his boundless grace,
Wright
