James Nisbet Commentary - Daniel 9:9 - 9:9

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James Nisbet Commentary - Daniel 9:9 - 9:9


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

MERCIES AND FORGIVENESSES

‘Do the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against Him.’

Dan_9:9

And what is God? A Being Whose essence is love. Pity makes His bosom a home. Gentleness dwells with Him. ‘Judgment is His strange work.’ ‘He waits to be gracious.’ He is a ‘Father’ still; and ‘though we have rebelled against Him,’ to ‘Him belongeth mercies and forgivenesses,’ and they cannot be alienated in that heart from any creature He has ever made!

I. It is a true and beautiful order—‘mercies and forgivenesses.’—Mercy is the fountain—forgiveness is the stream. The fountain is perennial, and the stream flows on for ever.

‘Mercy’ is—so the word means,—‘Mercy’ is a heart for misery; and the greater the misery, the larger is ‘mercy’s’ scope. And sinners—only sinners—can claim it. For the promises are all to sinners, and the extent of the sin is the argument for the greatness of the pardon—just as the virulence of a disease is the plea for the strength of the antidote. ‘Pardon mine iniquity, for it is great.’

‘And forgiveness.’ It is a free thing. If it could be bought, if it could be deserved, it would cease to be forgiveness. It is the spontaneous action of a self-creating affection. It is mercy’s firstborn!

And see how richly and lavishly God places both in their plurality. ‘To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses.’

The ‘sins’ are multitudes—the ‘mercies and forgivenesses’ are multitudes. But the last are greater than the former. For the ‘sins’ are legion, but they are finite, because they are man’s sins; ‘the mercies and forgivenesses’ are not finite, they are infinite—for they are God’s ‘mercies and forgivenesses.’

Is not it exactly what we need—unlimited mercies in unnumbered pardons?

II. There can be only one objection to this—Is it just?—It is just. The same mind which planned the mercy has provided for its justice. ‘He found the ransom.’ And the Substitute paid the penalty, and the punishment is over. So that God does but remit a cancelled debt: ‘Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.’ And so the wise man’s word is true, even to the Great Ruler of the universe: ‘Mercy and truth preserve the King; and His throne is upholden by mercy.’

The means, then, are the simplest, and they are to our hand; and the result is sure. Only believe. Then look up. Then look up, with lowly confidence, and with a faith which smiles through its tears, on those wounds, and on Him Who hangs there. And then look back for your burden; you won’t find it; it is gone!

Rev. Jas. Vaughan.

Illustration

‘To no other, but to God only, “belongeth mercy.’ If any man has “mercy,” in any degree, it came from God. And His is so infinitely great, above all other, and so incomparable, that all other is not to be named. God’s “mercy” stands out alone. “To Him belongeth mercy.” ’