THE MERCY OF GOD

WHAT IS THE MERCY OF GOD?

A part of His nature, God is merciful: Let’s see from these (Deut. 4:31) “For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”  God showed mercy even to the stiff-necked rebellious children of Israel (Neh. 9:31) “Nevertheless in your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful.” Luke tells us to be merciful, just as our Father also is merciful” (Luke 6:36).

GOD EXERCISES MERCY

When God divinely came down to meet with His servant Moses, He promised him only the good things and protected Moses from seeing the glory of His face but just His back (Exod. 33:19) “Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, when My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.” And Paul’s letter to the Romans which we had seen in the previous message says (Rom. 9:15-18) “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” So then it is not of him, who wills, or of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.” And again as explained on my yesterday’s post “GIVING AND RECEIVING MERCY” God’s mercy triumph over judgment (James 2:13) “For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

THE EXPRESIONS OF GOD’S MERCIES

God forgives our sins: This was David’s plea when he sinned against God thus (Ps. 51:1-2) “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your loving kindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” See also Daniel’s prayer for the sinful act of the people and the nation of God (Dan. 9:8-9) “O Lord to us belong shame of face, to our kings, our princess and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.”  Apostle Paul remembering the mercy of God through Christ our Lord upon him though he had been a chief sinner persecuting the Christians before his salvation and transformation to preach the Gospel (1 Tim. 1:12-16) “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptances, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”

God saves us in Christ: God is rich in mercy and love for His people (Eph. 2:4-7) “But, God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and,  made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  Mercy is through the kindness and mercies of God (Titus 3:4-5) “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” So it is not by the works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His Mercy, that we are saved. See also (1 Pet. 1:3-4) “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

God Is faithful to His covenant: God’s command concerning the ruin of His wrath against the wicked men (Deut. 13:17-18) “So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hands, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers.”  Again (Neh. 9:31) “Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for You are God, gracious and merciful.”

God receives us back to Himself: A merciful God who doesn’t remain angry forever (Jer. 3:12-13) “Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say: Return backsliding Israel,’ says the Lord; ‘I will not cause My anger to fall on you. For I am merciful.’ Says the Lord; ‘I will not remain angry forever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against the Lord Your God, and have scattered your charms to alien deities under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.”

God Heals us when we are ill and He spares His own from destruction: God had mercy and healed Epaphroditus Paul’s core worker from his illness (Phil. 2:27) “For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only him but on me also, I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” He spared the life of Lot and that of his family before destruction (Gen. 19:16) “And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.” And the psalmist declared (Ps. 116:1-6) “I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pain of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow, then I called upon the name of the Lord; O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!” Gracious is the Lord and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.”

God keeps us safe from the enemy: David’s prayer to the Lord (Ps. 6:9-10) “The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer. Let all my enemies be ashamed and greatly troubled; let them turn back and be ashamed suddenly.” Later David blesses the name of the Lord (Ps. 28:6-7) “Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.”

HOW TO PRAY FOR GOD’S MERCY

Have Mercy on me: The son of Jesse knew how to pray these prayers more than anyone else (Ps. 4:1) “Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.” See also (Ps. 9:13) “Have mercy on me O Lord! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, he who lift me up from the gates of death.”

Listen to my prayer: (Ps. 28:2) “Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.” Again (Ps. 86:6, 16) “Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and attend to the voice of my supplications; Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me! Give Your strength to You servant, and save the son of Your maidservant.”

Remember, O Lord, Your unfailing love and compassion: See (Ps. 25:6) “Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindnesses, for they are from of old.”

Be merciful to me, for I am a sinner: The prayer of the task collector (Luke 18:13) “And the task collector, standing a far off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his beast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.”

Son of David, have mercy on us: The two blind men cried to Jesus (Matt. 9:27) “When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And the two blind men by the roadside (Matt. 20:29-31) “Now as they went out of Jericho, a great multitude followed Him. And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!” Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, “Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!”

Let Thy mercy prevail O Lord!

“Grace to you and Favor from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with us all. Amen and Amen and Amen.”