A Small Kindness

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. (Psalm 36:5-9 ESV).

Last week was one filled with the reminders of kindness. I suppose Mary’s stay in the hospital gave us such a first-hand illustration of kindness in so many ways that I am forced to insert this devotional into the queue for Lent. Some of the examples of kindness were obvious, like the excellent care we received from the doctors, nurses, and staff of Baylor Hospital in Ft. Worth. However, some were more subtle. For example, one of the chaplains at the hospital was waxing conciliatory and quoted Plato in an effort to encourage me, saying, “Plato urges us to be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” While this was at a moment when I wanted to yell at the world, it did bring me back to the kindness of God. It was a strange road to get there, but get there I did. We have a little different language in Texas than most folks. I thought I was fluent in Texan, but I read a new idiom recently. Eighteenth century English dramatist and writer Douglas Jerrold said of his good friend, “He so kind he would have held an umbrella over a duck in a shower of rain.” Human kindness is a dim reflection of God’s kindness. Our reading today is so encouraging to me. It is this eternally vast look at the kindness and “steadfast love” of God that is foremost in the song. Remember who the author of the psalm was. David was a man who knew the hardships and disappointments of life. He also intimately knew and trusted the kindness of God. He also understood the steady pouring out of that kindness. God’s love and kindness was not given as a result of anything David did or didn’t do. His life was something of a mess at times being an adulterer and murderer. God loved him in spite of his failure, not because of it. The same is true of each of us. We have lost hard battles with sin. I’ve heard it described that Jesus’ umbrella is cross-shaped, protecting us from a deluge of God’s just wrath. God, our Father, is kind beyond measure. He does this “in order that … he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” Lent is a good time to reflect on God’s kindness.