Mercy and justice

It was appropriate for Resurrection Sunday that my devotional Bible reading brought me to Lamentations 3.  What a bright light of hope and restoration!  It is all the brighter because it comes in the midst of such darkness and suffering.  The same with Jesus' resurrection.  At the moment that things seemed the bleakest and the most hopeless, He arose!  New life began for us who are His.  God did the the most amazing thing.  In which, I disagree with those who say mercy triumphed over justice.  No.  The amazing thing is that mercy and justice were both perfectly accomplished in the same act.  That was the trick.  God could remain true to both aspects of His nature. 
And the other incredible thing is that He saved me.  Me, who was such a despicable rebellious sinner and, but for His grace would still be.  Some complain that God did not save all.  But as it says in Lamentations 3, "Why should a living man complain about the punishment of his sins?"  We deserve God's judgment.  The writer of Lamentations 3 recognizes this after having been a witness to the destruction of Jerusalem.  So, instead of complaining about the punishment of our sins, "Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!  Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven".  We can do this in confidence because we know that "The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him".