Be Marked By Mercy

# 397 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 30:11-13, “Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. 12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, "To whom do you belong, and where are you from?" And he said, "I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. (1 Sam 30:11-13) In pursuit of the Amalekites, David and his men find an Egyptian in the field. Greatly weakened by some sort of illness, his master had left him in the field without food and water to die. This is the lot of the servants of the Amalekites, who serve as a type of the devil and his minions. The devil scores zero on the compassion meter, and once he has his hooks in you, and has no further use for you, he will leave you high and dry. Ps 37:21 says, “The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives. In other words the devil will get what he wants from you and then cast you aside, but this is not the behavior of the righteous one. He shows mercy and gives! In Ps 37:25,26 we read, “I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed.” Ps 103:8 tells us, “ The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.” And Jesus follows that up with this admonition in Lu 6:36 "Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” The righteous are marked by mercy and a willingness to lend a helping hand. Ga 6:10 says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” God has been merciful to us and we are to extend mercy to others, it starts with that person next to you in the pew, and extends to that Egyptian, that Samaritan, or that “unbeliever in the next cubicle or across the street.” Father, You are compassionate, teach me, your child to be compassionate too.