Lord, Have Mercy!
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).“The personal God has a heart” (Karl Barth).[/perfectpullquote]
When I discovered that we were going to write about God’s attributes in 500-word devotionals, my first thought was, “Lord, have mercy!” That’s a prayer God delights to answer: “He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy” (Micah 7:18). There are several words in Scripture that are translated “mercy,” “compassion,” “pity,” and even, “bowels.” Pleas for mercy abound between men and men and men and God. God is full of mercy and compassion; in fact, were it not for God’s mercy, none of us would be alive.
Every day of life is a fresh exhibition of God’s mercy: “Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22–23). When God revealed his name to Moses, he volunteered that mercy was inherent in his very nature (Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:15). Mercy is the act or feeling of compassion for someone in a bad state or place of need. The greatest act of mercy was the cross, where God offered mercy to us in our deepest need: “Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed” (Psalm 85:10). You’ve heard of convicted criminals who throw themselves on the mercy of the court, hoping for a lighter sentence. Asking God for — and being grateful for — mercy is by definition an admission that you don’t deserve good. Granting mercy is up to God, so there is nothing we can bring to the table or boast about. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast“ (Ephesians 2:8–9).
God is so concerned about mercy that he would rather we show mercy to others than worry about keeping his rituals and laws with an unfeeling heart (Matthew 9:13). In fact, mercy is so God-like that on two occasions, Christ tells us to be merciful as our Father is merciful. Matthew 18 and Luke 6 are the primary illustrations of mercy that exceed any definition we can give of the words themselves.
Matthew 18 is Jesus’ teaching about dealing with a brother who sins against you. Luke 6 contains exhortations regarding how Christians should treat their enemies, with no distinction between the lost and the saved. We are to treat ALL men and women the same way God does, by meeting needs without a judgmental attitude. Herein resides the famous “Golden Rule,” “And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise” (Luke 6:31). Both passages are sterling illustrations of how and why we need to be merciful.
An encouraging aspect of God’s mercy is that it is covenant-based — it is part of his promises. We see it literally over and over in his dealings with Israel, where, in Psalm 136, after every recitation of one of his deeds, we hear the refrain, “For His mercy endures forever.”
God’s mercy will not be revoked or worn out. “This steady, persistent refusal of God to wash his hands of wayward Israel is the essential meaning of the Heb. word which is translated loving-kindness” (Snaith).
There is one caution, however. In the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, the rich man in hell asked for mercy (V. 24), but it was too late, and no mercy was afforded him. Are your bowels (OK, heart) moved when you see someone in need? Do you remember the state you were in when God showed mercy to you?
– Alan Allegra
