Heavenly Kisses

By Marjorie Kinnee
Editorial

Text: Psalm 85:10-11 - "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven."

Mercy is God's business. At man's best, his kind of mercy is flawed, dependent upon God's example to be of any effect. Proverbs 16:6 says, "By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD, men depart from evil." As God's mercy comes down to us, we begin to see the truth of our lack and our need. A repentant heart is the seed bed of truth.

David's condition was grave, his sin was egregious. In his prayer, (Psalm 51,) we can identify twenty-one key words or phrases. They are the facets of true repentance...

1. Have mercy,
2. Blot out my transgressions,
3. Wash me thoroughly,
4. Cleanse me, 
5. I acknowledge my transgressions,
6. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned,
7. I was shapen in iniquity,
8. Thou desirest truth in the inward parts,
9. Purge me, and I shall be clean,
10. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,
11. Make me to hear joy, and gladness,
12. Hide Thy face from my sins,
13. Blot out all mine iniquities,
14. Create in me a clean heart,
15. Renew a right Spirit within me,
16. Cast me not away,
17. Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me,
18. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,
19. Uphold me with Thy free Spirit,
20. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness,
21. Open Thou my lips.

David's spiritual condition was desperate. Without God he was in total darkness, as if he were dead. Hedged in by his sin, he had nowhere to go. His prayers went no higher than the ceiling; God wasn't listening. Condemnation lie in wait like a predator. His strength and hope had perished. He saw and heard the snide remarks and derision of all those around him. Sitting in misery and affliction, David felt cut off, estranged from every good thing he'd ever known.

But God! (See II Peter 3:9.) As the mercy of God flowed down toward David's need, truth rose up to meet it. "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Right there, at the conjunction of mercy and truth, righteousness and peace, David found himself squarely in the center of a heavenly kiss! Though his sin had separated him from God, mercy like the morning dew embraced the truth of what true repentance is. It is the great reconciler! You too can find the joy that comes from placing yourself in the center of a heavenly kiss!

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (II Corinthians 5:20)