Listen up, little ones
Listen for the words forgive and pardon.
Reading
Numbers 14:11-38—Mercy and Judgment
Optional Reading
Luke 7:36-50
Keys for kids
- God is full of mercy.
- In His mercy, He forgives repentant sinners.
- God’s mercy and His judgment results in His glory.
Questions
- How does God’s mercy result in His glory?
- How does God’s judgment result in His glory?
- How would God’s judgment and mercy be shown to Israel?
Catechism
WSC #90
How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?
That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.
Children's Catechism 114-115
What is the third petition?
“Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
What do we pray for in the third petition?
That men on earth may serve God as the angels do in heaven.
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
God threatens to strike down all of Israel for their rebellion and make a new nation from Moses. But Moses prays. His prayer asks God to turn from His just anger. And two major themes are the basis of his prayer: God’s glory and God’s mercy.
God’s mercy results in His glory. What a glorious God we have who forgives sin and has provided a means for sinners to be made righteous!
Yet God’s judgment also results in His glory. What a glorious God we have who will by no means let the guilty get away with their sin, but who will destroy His enemies.
Let us never forget both His mercy and His judgment result in His glory. Our God is not a “tame” God. He is not to be trifled with. So, God’s mercy and God’s judgment was shown in response to Moses’ prayer.
The frightened Israelites were certain their children would be destroyed by the Canaanites, but they would enter the promised land. Joshua and Caleb, who had a different spirit and gave a God-trusting report, would enter the land, as well. The rest of the people, aged twenty years and above, would wander in the wilderness for forty years – one year for each day the spies were in the land. And in that wandering, they would die in the desert.
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 101a, 22c
Prayer
- Rejoice that God is both forgiving and a just judge.
- Pray for change in you from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.