God took away His "unending love" from Saul

[patmokgoko]

2 Samuel 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it (mercy) from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
Just curios to know how the mercies of God can be taken away from any person when His mercies are new every morning and endureth forever.His loving kindness are forever.Was it just a temporary thing, I mean the withdrawal of the mercies?How can God take His mercy away from someone.Forgive me if you discussed this before , just give me a reference, God Bless

[Gina]

This verse comes to mind:

In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you," says the LORD your Redeemer.  (Isaiah 54:8 )

I agree, Patmokgoko, His mercies are new every morning, so maybe this has something to do with the relative and the absolute?

Maybe "mornings" and "moments" aren't what they appear to be.  I don't know.  

Gina

[patmokgoko]

Thanks Gina for your response, however I don't think it's got anything to do with "relative/absolute but rather with translations, i found another version saying "kindness" but still to me it doesn't make sense whether we say , kindness/lovingkindness/mercies/love how can God take it away from anyone of us?

[JohnMichael]

Hi Patmokgoko,

The Lord decides who He will have mercy on and who He won't.

Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Paul was quoting Exodus here.

Exo 33:14 And he [the Lord] said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
Exo 33:15 And he [Moses] said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
Exo 33:16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
Exo 33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
Exo 33:18 And he [Moses] said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Exo 33:19 And he [the Lord] said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

It is the relative versus absolute. The absolute is that the Lord's mercy endures all (Ezra 3:11; 1 Cor 13). The relative is that on a particular person, He decides when/who/why to show mercy for that given person - that is His rightful decision as He knows what's necessary for that person. I hope that makes sense.

In Him,
John

[mharrell08]

Thanks Gina for your response, however I don't think it's got anything to do with "relative/absolute but rather with translations, i found another version saying "kindness" but still to me it doesn't make sense whether we say , kindness/lovingkindness/mercies/love how can God take it away from anyone of us?

The 'unending love' that this translation is referring to simply means 'favor'. God had bestowed great favor onto Saul but took it away for his disobedience.

Most often, the same person will find themselves on both sides of the following proverbs at different points in their lives. The same happened with Saul:

Proverbs 11:27  He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.

Proverbs 12:2  A good man obtains favor from the LORD, But a man of wicked intentions He will condemn.

Proverbs 13:5  Good understanding gains favor, But the way of the unfaithful is hard.


Hope this helps,

Marques

[Gina]

Hi Pat:

It's not a pleasurable thought, I give you that.  Ray mentioned that all that God has to do to make a vessel of dishonor is to take away His light from their life -- like He did Pharaoh.  And maybe the reason God does that is because He knows that the vessels of dishonor provide the perfect backdrop/contrast to make the goodness/mercies of God in the vessels of honor show up clearly?

[JohnMichael]

Hi Pat:

It's not a pleasurable thought, I give you that.  Ray mentioned that all that God has to do to make a vessel of dishonor is to take away His light from their life -- like He did Pharaoh.  And maybe the reason God does that is because He knows that the vessels of dishonor provide the perfect backdrop/contrast to make the goodness/mercies of God in the vessels of honor show up clearly?

Hi Gina,

The Scriptures answer your question also in Romans.

Romans 9:17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, "I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth."
Romans 9:18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.
Romans 9:19 Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?"
Romans 9:20 No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?"
Romans 9:21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn't he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?
Romans 9:22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.
Romans 9:23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory.

In Him,
John

[Gina]

Beautiful.

[Ian 155]

2 Samuel 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it (mercy) from Saul, whom I put away before thee.
Just curios to know how the mercies of God can be taken away from any person when His mercies are new every morning and endureth forever.His loving kindness are forever.Was it just a temporary thing, I mean the withdrawal of the mercies?How can God take His mercy away from someone.Forgive me if you discussed this before , just give me a reference, God Bless

If you believe that Jesus is the son of God and God raised him from the dead then you shall be saved... this is about faith,or If you believe what is written is true and applies to you based on his word.So if his word says "I will never leave you nor forsake you" how do you read that ?Heb 13v5 actually is derived from Josh 1 v5.

Saul on the other hand was wicked in the sight of God, if you read carefully, was impatient and resorted to consulting with a witch or medium instead of waiting on Gods word thru the prophet Nathan.The old testament is a reference for us , it is judgement and wrath, we on the other hand are a New creation the old has gone - you can't put new wine,new teaching,New testament into old wine skins [old testament] Matt 9 v17 so read your word by faith...[the calling of God is irrevocable [do you believe this ?] Jesus has come,he is the new order,walk in the spiritual laws he set down,read the beatitudes.You now have claim to his mercies [his mercies are new every morning] Lam 3v23.

So what I believe is , if one resorts to the way of carnal man or mindset you have a problem in that he God would withdraw the mercy promised as you no longer are functioning by faith but rather by fear or you are actually an unbeliever in "Gods word",so you resort to the natural realm which is effectivly what Saul did [all for Gods purpose though] his sentence was forever however we walk under grace and he will cause us to see our unbelief and restore us after repentance.

And Philip said: If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest. And he answering, said: I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
acts 8v37 so when phillip saw that he believed he proceeded to baptise him ...Belief from the treasurer was the what made Phillip act if you are a believer God will act he will never leave you nor forsake you..

[longhorn]

Another way to look at this or any verse in the entirety of scripture is that every single word in scripture from Genesis to Revelation, are words that proceeded out of the mouth of God, and we all willl live out ( by ) ( experience ) those words at our appointed time.  Matt 4:4  1 Cor 3:21  " All things are ours ".

Longhorn