March 31

For surely we will die and be like water poured out on the ground, which cannot be recovered. Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises ways that the banished one may not be cast out from Him. — 2 Sam 14:14 BSB

The promise declares, “I will bring again that which was driven away” (Ezekiel 34:16). Guilt, temptation, Satan, doubts, and fears had driven them away from the shelter of God’s presence. Yet the Lord still cares for them and promises to bring them back—but how? By nothing but a sense of mercy. It is not through frowns but through smiles. “I drew them with cords of a man,” says the Lord, “with bands of love.” You can try to drive a backslider back with thunder and lightning, but it won’t work. The only way to bring him back is by mercy—by the goodness of God that leads to repentance.

Consider how Peter was restored. It was through that look which Jesus gave him as He stood in the high priest’s hall—a look of mingled love and reproof. That look caused Peter to go out and weep bitterly. A frown would have driven him into despair, and he might have ended up like Judas, but that look broke his heart and healed it simultaneously. It filled his soul with grief yet poured in healing balm, so much so that when Jesus rose from the dead and sent a special message to Peter, he leaped into the sea to meet Him on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. But for that look of love and the assurance of forgiveness, Peter might have sunk into the depths of self-reproach. Instead, he was brought back by grace.

The same is true of David, restored by the voice of pardon. The Lord devises ways so that His banished ones are not driven away forever. His love draws them back when nothing else can, restoring those who have been driven away by sin, guilt, or doubt.