For God's anger lasts only a moment,Psalm 30:5
but God's favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may remain for a night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
I had never heard of being grounded until I went to junior high and found out my friends were being grounded all the time for disobedience. It is not that I was not disobedient; it was that my parents didn't believe in grounding a person for a week or a month. Oh, no. They believed in swift punishment.
When I was disobedient or when I had messed up one way or another, I was punished immediately. Usually I was spanked or expected to right the wrong.
My parent's got mad at me, but their anger did not burn against me for long. They believed punishment should take place and then we should all move forward. They believed the "sun should never set on anger." They dealt with the problem and then it wasn't mentioned again.
This was probably one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.
They did not "pussy foot" around with discipline.
In our reading today, David was given the option of an extended period of lesser punishment or swift harsh punishment. He leaves the decision to God and God chooses the swift punishment.
It is often easier to deal with something swiftly. A bandaid hurts less when quickly pulled off than when slowly peeled. A surgical incision is best done quickly with a sharp blade. To nip a problem in the budding stage is better than to let it flower and seed.
Jesus told Judas, "What you must do, do quickly."
There is wisdom in this. Letting any conflict or dreaded thing go on and on is often the worst way to handle something.
Nike says, "Just do it."
Disciplinging God,
Just do it.
Be angry
and then let your favor return.
This is your mercy to me.
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