TOO SMALL A PUNISHMENT!

"Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear" (Gen 4:13).

In fact, despite the atrocious sins Cain committed - murdering his innocent brother, getting angry with God, lying to God, questioning God, etc. - the Lord did not punish him as He ought to have: the punishments the Lord pronounced were only a blessing in disguise.

But Cain, instead of saying, "My sin is greater than I can bear," says, "My punishment is too great to bear." This was afront to the matchlesss love God had showed to him. It was not God Who drove him away, but his own sins. But he accuses God of driving him out "from the face of the earth" (vs 14). Now also many sinners speak the language of Cain.

But look at how King David took reproof. When the prophet pronounced God's judgment on him for his sin, he humbled himself greatly before God and accepted his punishment. We can read of this in many of his psalms. "My sin is ever before me. Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight," he cries (Psa 51:3,4). Another time he tells the Lord, "I have sinned... I have done wickedly. Let Thine hand be against me and against my father's house" (II Sam 24:17).

Child of God, it is a heart like David's that the Lord wants us to have. When we err, let us humble ourselves and say like Ezra, "Our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve" (Ezra 9:13).

"He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities (Psa 103:10).

- Late Pastor T.U.Thomas, in "Morning Manna"