“He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them.” Numbers 23:21
Whoa! Say again…no iniquity in Jacob, no perverseness in Israel? Perhaps you jest, God. You surely know how much evil is in Jacob and in Israel…and by extension in me, and in every reader of this column. How can be said then…no iniquity?
I love this subject–that of God’s love, His great mercy and of His abundant grace. Of such is this scripture enveloped, tightly woven and stamped. God’s love. God’s grace. God’s mercy. I’m so chocked with imperfection and sin, there is no way I could ever hope to be saved, except for God’s looking past my shortcomings and my deficient measure, and tugging at me, pulling me upright, and seeing that I’m truly repentant, and that I’m sorry, and that I’m trying, and that I DO love Jesus, then saying again, “I see no iniquity in her.”
No misunderstandings here, please. My awareness of this attribute of God the Righteous in no way gives me a license to sin–to willfully squander the redeeming blood of Jesus, to mock Calvary and ignore its shame. “Cheap grace” evolves from such mindset, no repentance required, no contrition, no turning from sin, no church discipline. Paul speaks to that in Romans 6:1-2.
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”
No, we strive for perfection and we have turned from sin. We’re delving into the Word, we’re listening closely to God’s ministers and we’re spending time in prayer. Now check out the last part of the scripture…”the shout of a king is among them.” Yes!
_________________________________________________________________________
My other blog is here.
God Things 
Thank you so much for this post. I was sitting here browsing through my tag surfer, and when I hit your post and started reading my eyes filled with tears of gratitude. “I see no iniquity in her.” Amazing, underserved grace, indeed. Makes me want to go sing, “Oh what matchless condescension the eternal God displays…” He is risen, He is matchless, and He is good.
Hello, Merlot–Welcome to my blog. Hope you visit often.
Isn’t it the greatest thing! And yes! what matchless condescension!
I love it all. Love Jesus Christ with all my heart.