I Would - But You Would Not

“He loves righteousness and justice, the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”
(Psalm 33:5)
“He has showed you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you but to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8)

The common talk today is of our chaotic world. The media, talk between friends, politicians and messages from our pulpits, all are talking about the mess in our world. The government is corrupt; there are wars and rumors of wars; natural disasters have devastated many areas around the world; diseases are rampant; the inequities coming out of the courts; and the sins of mankind are mind-boggling and stacked to the sky. Yet, “the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.”

“His mercy is everlasting and His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations” (Psalm 100:5). We go to bed, sleep and wake up and live our days filled with God’s mercy, faithfulness, truth and His goodness. The earth is full of His goodness or else we would have been destroyed as soon as we reached the "age of accountability." His unconditional love is incomprehensible. This is not to say He will not judge the wicked, punish the unrighteous and that His Spirit will not always deal with the hearts of men, but the earth remains full of the goodness of the Lord. The heart of the Father yearns for the sinner and the wayward righteous to humble themselves, pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked way, then He will hear their cry and heal them, save them, deliver them and make them well.

I believe the Father’s heart is still broken over the world’s condition just as He was broken to the point of tears (Luke 19:41-42) over Jerusalem when He exclaimed, “Would that you had known personally, even at least in this your day, the things that make for peace, for freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin and upon which your peace your security, safety, prosperity, and happiness depends.” (Luke 19:41-42) And again in, Luke 13:34, where He said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who continue to kill the prophets and to stone those who are sent to you! How often I have desired and yearned to gather your children together around Me, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you would not!” What condemning words – “I would - but you would not.”

What an indictment on us, here in the western world, who have had so much, and instead of appreciating and putting these ‘things’ in their proper place, they have become scales on our eyes that have blinded us to God’s goodness. We are blinded to the things that make for peace, freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin (ours and others) upon which our peace, security, safety, prosperity and happiness depends. We have been blind to the fact that it is not our wealth, our armies, our governments and our gods that will bring us peace, happiness or safety, but it is our “loving mercy, doing justly and living humbly with our God,” – Jehovah Sabaoth (LORD of hosts), Who is the One Who forms the mountains and creates the wind and speaks to man what is His Own thought, Who makes the morning darkness and treads on the heights of the earth – the Lord, the God of hosts, is His name (Amos 4:13)! He is the One whose goodness still fills the earth, Whose eyes are still in every place, keeping watch upon the evil and the good (Prov.15:3), ”Whose eyes still run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him (II Chron.16:9). He is still saying to us, “I would, but you would not!”

I pray, “Lord, help me to live righteously, to love mercy, to do justly and to live humbly before You. I will turn from my wicked way; I will seek your face with my whole heart and pray. Forgive me for my compromising with the world, for being so lukewarm in my zeal for You, for not loving as I should, for trying to please others instead of You. I need your strength to walk above sin, to overcome the bondage that keeps me from being all you want me to be. Cause me to resist the devil so he has to flee from me. I praise You for being all I need, for never leaving me nor forsaking me and I thank You that nothing can separate me from Your love, for adopting me into the family of God, and that You made me to be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, my Lord and in Whose name I pray!”

Will you pray this prayer with me?

I Surrender All
Judson W. Van de Venter

All to Jesus I surrender, All to him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessings fall on me.

Chorus:
I surrender all, I surrender all, All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.