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I Plead For MercyA mother once approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son.
The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death.
"But I don't ask for justice,?
the mother explained.
"I plead for mercy.?
"But your son does not deserve mercy,?
Napoleon replied.
"Sir,? the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for.?
"Well, then,? the emperor said, "I will have mercy.? And he spared the woman's son.
Luis Palau, "Experiencing God's Forgiveness,?
Multnomah Press, 1984of the contempt of the proud.
As Children of God, we believe that the Word of God is true.
Which also means that we expect Goodness and Mercy to follow us everywhere we go.
We understand what Mercy can do.
We have confidence that Mercy can cover our current trials and tribulations.
Mercy in a biblical sense is the pity, compassion or kindess that God extends towards us.
I don’t know about yout but there have been times when I have run out of options.
All I could say, was Lord have Mercy on me.
Some people use mercy like a get out jail free card.
Do whatever you want and a sk for mercy afterwards.
My brothers and sisters I’m here to tell you today, that God’s mercy is soo such more.
Our text today is another one of the Songs of Ascent.
The Songs that the Pilgrims sang on their way to Jerusalem 3 times each year.
Ps 123 To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he has mercy upon us.
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.”
Our text demonstrates how one can communicate with their eyes.
It’s called eye language, the message we send with our eyes.
Your eye language can say a lot about you.
Our eye language at times reveals our emotions or even if we’re telling the truth.
Your eyes: you stare with them, wink with them, rub them, shift them and even roll them.
Your eyes can speak volumes about who you are and what you feel.
The bible says that we lift our eyes; we gaze towards the heavens where our Father lives.
Why? because Christians understand that all our help comes from the Lord.
Just like a maid looks to her mistress or a servant looks to his master for help.
Our eye language conveys the fact that we have a need, to the authority, over us without uttering a single word.
Just like a child looks to their parents for their needs.
Our dog even has a certain look he gives us when he needs to go outside.
Eye language can be a very powerful motivator.
The bible says that just like the maid to her mistress and the servant to his master, we look to the Lord our God until, we get what we need.
But what about
THE EYES OF GOD
Does God have an eye langauge?
My brothers and sister if you would just allow me to use my santified imagination for a moment I believe that the Lord does indeed speak to us with his eyes.
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers…” (1 Peter 3:12)
The Lord looks down to watch over your life.
Psalm 33:13-15 says,
“The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
From the place of His habitation
He gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth;
He fashions their hearts alike;
He considers all their works.”
The Lord looks down to see who He can help.
2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the Lord move about on all the earth to strengthen the heart that is completely toward Him.”
The Lord looks down to find and destroy those who oppose Him.
Psalm 2:4-5,
You see I believe as we look to God with our eyes to communicate with God, the His eyes in turn our now upon us!!
Tell somebody the eyes of God are upon us!
You see when we look to God, our eye language is not without purpose.
The bible says that our eyes look to the Lord our God, until (stop right there)
do we wait til we get tired?
do we wait til we no longer want to wait?
do we wait til we lose hope?
How long do we wait?
Tell somebody until!!!! That’s how long we wait.
We wait until the Lord responds, whether the Lords response is negative or postive, we are supposed to wait for a response.
That’s we’re many people go wrong, right there.
They either feel like they can’t wait or they won’t wait to hear from the LORD on the matter.
Psalm 27:14
“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
So not only do our eyes look to God, but God’s eyes are on us too!
Now what about the hand of God?
We communicate what we want with our eyes but God makes provisions for us with his hands.
2. THE HAND OF GOD
The hand of God is not a body part.
Rather, just as a father lovingly guides and disciplines a child with his hand, so are we guided by the hand of God.
Every time the pilgrams made their journey to and from Jerusalem the would need the hand of God leading and guiding them on the journey.
I don’t know about you but this Christian journey has dangers seen and unseen.
The hand of God can be clearly seen moving, guiding, protecting, in hindsight after its all over.
At the time, of a trial or struggle we might not see it.
But later we realize that God was there all the time.
This is why James tells us to “consider it pure joy” (James 1:2) when we encounter various trials, because they valuable to our spiritual lives.
The hand of God can be experienced in his word.
That’s where you’ll find God’s guidance, instruction, and discipline.
Just like to maidservant and servant looked to their master’s with the eyes; it was the hand of the master which provided.
Finanlly we see that in this song the pilgrims appeal to;
THE HEART OF GOD
We touch the heart of God when we admit we have a need - the pilgrims said Lord have mercy on us.
We touch the heart of God when we care about, what he cares about.
The Lord cares out our physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.
It is an acts of Mercy to meet a person at their point of need.
The people had a spiritual need.
A need for the Lord to provide relief from the persecution of other nations.
The taunting and teasing.
Where is your God?
As if their worship was in vain.
As if their living was in vain.
As if their praying was in vain.
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