Attributes of God = mercy
Notes
Transcript
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Nearness of God’s Mercy)
The nearness of God’s mercy is “as a father pitieth his children” (Psalm 103:13). After the first World War the United States with its big heart gave vast sums of money to the dislocated orphans of Europe, but they didn’t have enough to meet the need. In one of the places where they were taking in orphans, a man came in, very thin, with large, unnaturally bright eyes, thin cheeks and thin arms, leading a little girl. She also showed signs of malnutrition—eyes too large and bright, her little abdomen distended and her thin little legs and arms too small and too thin for her age.
This man led her in and said to the person in charge, “I would like you to take in my little girl.” And they asked him if she was his daughter.
“Yes,” he said.
“Well,” they said, “we’re awfully sorry, but our rule here is that only full orphans can receive any help. If one of the parents is living then we can’t take responsibility because we just don’t have enough. There are too many full orphans for us to take a half orphan.”
And he looked down at his little girl, and she looked up questioningly with big, too-bright eyes, and then he turned and said, “Well, you know, I can’t work. I’m sick. I’ve been abused. I have been in prison. I’ve been half starved, and now I’m old and I can’t work. I can barely stagger around. But I brought her down for you to take care of her.”
And they said, “We’re sorry, but there’s nothing we can do.”
He said, “You mean that if I were dead, you’d take care of my little girl and feed her and she could live and have clothing and a home?” They said, “Yes.” Then he reached down and pulled her little skinny body up to himself and hugged her hard and kissed her. Then he put her hand in the hand of the man at the desk, and said, “I’ll arrange that,” and walked out of the room and committed suicide.
I heard that story years ago and I haven’t gotten over it yet. Still I see that picture of the man who was too sick to work but who stood in the way of his daughter’s getting decent food and clothing. And he said, “I’ll take care of that,” and he did. That’s mercy—as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him.
Proposition - Friends grab your Bibles and jump aboard as study the mercy of God. We will zoom in and focus on three aspects of God’s mercy: 1) the explanation of God’s mercy, 2) the nature of God’s mercy, and 3) the manifestation of God’s mercy.
Interrogative question - What impact does recognizing God's infinite mercy have on your spiritual growth and interactions with others?
Last week we concluded our two week study on God’s justice -
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Operation of God’s Mercy)
The judgment of God is God’s justice confronting moral inequity and iniquity. When justice sees iniquity, judgment falls. Mercy is God’s goodness confronting human guilt and suffering.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Operation of God’s Mercy)
Justification means that mercy and justice have collaborated so that when God turns and sees iniquity, and then sees the man of iniquity rushing to the cross, He no longer sees iniquity but justification. And so we’re justified by faith.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 5: God’s Mercy)
There has been a lot of careless teaching that implies that the Old Testament is a book of severity and law, and the New Testament is a book of tenderness and grace. But do you know that while both the Old Testament and the New Testament declare the mercy of God, the word mercy appears in the Old Testament over four times more often than in the New? That’s a bit hard to believe, but it’s true.
The word mercy is used 42 times in 37 verses in the OT -
The word mercy is used 59 times in 54 verses in the NT -
1. The Explanation of God’s Mercy -
1. The Explanation of God’s Mercy -
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 5: God’s Mercy)
As I said about the other attributes of the Deity, mercy is not something God has but something God is. If mercy was something God had, conceivably God might mislay it or use it up. It might become less or more. But since it is something that God is, then we must remember that it is uncreated. The mercy of God did not come into being. The mercy of God always was in being, for mercy is what God is, and God is eternal. And God is infinite.
Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Mercy)
God’s mercy is his tenderhearted, loving compassion for his people. It is his tenderness of heart toward the needy. If grace contemplates humans as sinful, guilty, and condemned, mercy sees them as miserable and needy. Words like חֶסֶד (chesed), רָחַם (racham), and ἔλεος (eleos) give expression to this dimension of God’s love.
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Mercy)
God’s mercy describes him as perfectly having deep compassion for creatures (people), such that he demonstrates benevolent goodness to those in a pitiable or miserable condition, even though they do not deserve it. This definition is partly based on the words used in the original text of the Bible for “mercy” (Heb. rakhamim; Gk. eleos, oiktirmos). As with grace, this perfection does not consider the merit or lack of merit of the people to whom God gives mercy.
The Moody Handbook of Theology (Relative Attributes)
A general definition of mercy is “the goodness or love of God shown to those who are in misery or distress, irrespective of their deserts.” The Hebrew word chesed in the Old Testament emphasizes “help or kindness as the grace of a superior.” It stresses the faithfulness of God despite man’s unfaithfulness and therefore emphasizes pity, sympathy, and love. The New Testament Greek word eleos also includes the idea of pity and sympathy and may be translated “loving-kindness” in a general sense. God’s mercy seeks both the temporal need of mankind (Ruth 1:8; Heb. 4:16) as well as the eternal salvation of people (Rom. 9:23; Eph. 2:4; Titus 3:5; 1 Pet. 1:3; Isa. 55:7); however, the latter is the stress in the New Testament.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 5: God’s Mercy)
For instance, the cross of Christ. When Jesus died on the cross the mercy of God did not become any greater. It could not become any greater, for it was already infinite. We get the odd notion that God is showing mercy because Jesus died. No—Jesus died because God is showing mercy. It was the mercy of God that gave us Calvary, not Calvary that gave us mercy. If God had not been merciful there would have been no incarnation, no babe in the manger, no man on a cross and no open tomb.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 5: God’s Mercy)
But God’s compassion leads Him to actively “compassionate.” He did it by sending Moses down to deliver the children of Israel.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Operation of God’s Mercy)
When the goodness of God confronts human guilt and suffering, God listens, God hears, and the bleating of the lamb comes into His ear and the moan of the babe comes into His heart, and the cry of Israel comes up to His throne. The goodness of God is confronting human suffering and guilt, and that is mercy.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Operation of God’s Mercy)
All men are recipients of the mercy of God, but God has postponed the execution, that is all. When the justice of God confronts human guilt then there is a sentence of death, but the mercy of God—because that also is an attribute of God, not contradicting the other but working with it—postpones the execution.
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (The Suffering of God)
A lot of hymn writers who should have been cutting the grass at the time have written songs instead. One of them says this: “I wonder why, I wonder why He loved me so. I will love and pray that I might know why He loved me so.” You will never know that. There is only one answer to why God loved you: because God is love. And there is only one answer to why God has mercy on you: because God is mercy, and mercy is an attribute of the Deity. Don’t ask God why, but thank Him for the vast wondrous how and fact of it.
Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth (Mercy)
1. It is a perfection or attribute of God (Ex. 34:6; Deut. 4:31; 2 Chron. 30:9; Pss. 86:15; 103:8; 111:4; 112:4; 145:8).
2. It is manifold (Ex. 20:6; Deut. 5:10; 2 Sam. 24:14; Neh. 9:19; Pss. 51:1–2; 57:10; 86:5; Dan. 9:9, 18).
3. It does not fail (Lam. 3:22).
4. It is an aspect of God’s paternal affection and care (Ps. 103:13).
5. It is given to sinners after divine chastening (Isa. 14:1; 49:13–18; 54:8; 55:7; 60:10; Jer. 12:15; 30:18; 31:20; Hos. 2:21–23; Mic. 7:19).
6. God is called the “Father of mercies” (2 Cor. 1:3).
7. God showed his mercy in Christ (Luke 1:50–54).
8. Christ showed the mercy of God in his life on earth and as the Great High Priest in heaven (Matt. 9:36; 14:14; 20:34; Heb. 2:17).
9. God gives mercy by providing salvation in all its aspects, including sustenance in the Christian life and final salvation at Christ’s return (Rom. 9:23; 11:30; 1 Cor. 7:25; 2 Cor. 4:1; Eph. 2:4; Phil. 2:27; 1 Tim. 1:2, 13, 16; 2 Tim. 1:2, 16, 18; Heb. 4:16; 1 Pet. 1:3; 2:10; 2 John 3; Jude 2, 21).
Mercy is an attitude of compassion and care, rooted in the nature of God, revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and expected of believers.
The mercifulness of God -
38 But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath.
12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever.
16 ‘Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem.” ’
11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
The expression of God’s mercy -
In forgiveness of sins -
14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
50 and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them
11 But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; Redeem me, and be gracious to me.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
38 But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger And did not arouse all His wrath.
9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
In response to prayer -
28 “Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today;
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am pining away; Heal me, O Lord, for my bones are dismayed.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord; See my affliction from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice, And be gracious to me and answer me.
The mercy of Jesus Christ -
16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.
36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
2. The Nature of God’s Mercy -
2. The Nature of God’s Mercy -
Mercy is a central part of God’s character, it is expressed in His covenant relationships with undeserving people.
God is merciful -
14 Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”
31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.
7 But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.
6 Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.
12 “Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, ‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever.
9 “To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against Him;
78 Because of the tender mercy of our God, With which the Sunrise from on high will visit us,
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
11 We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.
God’s mercy is revealed by His faithfulness to His covenant with his people -
31 “For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them.
9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
23 He said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing lovingkindness to Your servants who walk before You with all their heart, 24 who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You have promised him; indeed, You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand as it is this day.
5 I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments,
30 “However, You bore with them for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. 31 “Nevertheless, in Your great compassion You did not make an end of them or forsake them, For You are a gracious and compassionate God.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. 20 You will give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.
54 “He has given help to Israel His servant, In remembrance of His mercy, 55 As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and his descendants forever.”
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant— 70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old— 71 Salvation from our enemies, And from the hand of all who hate us; 72 To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant, 73 The oath which He swore to Abraham our father, 74 To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, 75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
Both God’s faithfulness and mercy are without end -
6 Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old.
17 But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,
1 Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me, After Your manner with those who love Your name.
Both God’s mercy and grace are seen in Jesus Christ -
14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
21 keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
God’s mercy is not reserved only for the Jewish nation -
6 He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
2 He prayed to the Lord and said, “Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him;
28 From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so these also now have been disobedient, that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy. 32 For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all.
8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles, And I will sing to Your name.” 10 Again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” 11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him.” 12 Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”
14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, 7 of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power. 8 To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,
27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
God chooses both when and where to exercise His mercy -
19 And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
7 “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
16 “You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.
15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God.
God responds in mercy to those who call to Him -
28 “Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You today;
19 “Yet have regard to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer which Your servant prays before You;
15 “For though I were right, I could not answer; I would have to implore the mercy of my judge.
9 The Lord has heard my supplication, The Lord receives my prayer.
18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.
3. The Manifestation of God’s Mercy -
3. The Manifestation of God’s Mercy -
God demonstrates his mercy in various interactions with His people.
God as a parent figure -
13 Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him. 14 For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
7 I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, According to all that the Lord has granted us, And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has granted them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His lovingkindnesses. 8 For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So He became their Savior.
13 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; And you will be comforted in Jerusalem.”
20 “Is Ephraim My dear son? Is he a delightful child? Indeed, as often as I have spoken against him, I certainly still remember him; Therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him,” declares the Lord.
1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. 2 The more they called them, The more they went from them; They kept sacrificing to the Baals And burning incense to idols. 3 Yet it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them.
17 “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Both God’s mercy and compassion to those in distress -
23 Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. 24 So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. 16 “With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.”
2 Great are the works of the Lord; They are studied by all who delight in them. 3 Splendid and majestic is His work, And His righteousness endures forever. 4 He has made His wonders to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and compassionate. 5 He has given food to those who fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever. 6 He has made known to His people the power of His works, In giving them the heritage of the nations. 7 The works of His hands are truth and justice; All His precepts are sure. 8 They are upheld forever and ever; They are performed in truth and uprightness. 9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name.
7 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap, 8 To make them sit with princes, With the princes of His people. 9 He makes the barren woman abide in the house As a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!
1 I cry aloud with my voice to the Lord; I make supplication with my voice to the Lord. 2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare my trouble before Him. 3 When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk They have hidden a trap for me.
13 Shout for joy, O heavens! And rejoice, O earth! Break forth into joyful shouting, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people And will have compassion on His afflicted.
9 In all their affliction He was afflicted, And the angel of His presence saved them; In His love and in His mercy He redeemed them, And He lifted them and carried them all the days of old.
2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the Lord, And He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.
1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart,
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
In judgment, God’s mercy is just and true -
36 “For the Lord will vindicate His people, And will have compassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free.
1 Hear my prayer, O Lord, Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!
3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; 4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. 5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
18 Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him.
7 “For a brief moment I forsook you, But with great compassion I will gather you. 8 “In an outburst of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, But with everlasting lovingkindness I will have compassion on you,” Says the Lord your Redeemer.
10 “Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you.
2 Lord, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
God chooses to show no mercy -
20 For it was of the Lord to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
5 You, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, Awake to punish all the nations; Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. Selah.
7 “Then afterwards,” declares the Lord, “I will give over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people, even those who survive in this city from the pestilence, the sword and the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their foes and into the hand of those who seek their lives; and he will strike them down with the edge of the sword. He will not spare them nor have pity nor compassion.” ’
13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
God’s mercy revealed in His actions -
13 “In Your lovingkindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them to Your holy habitation.
18 When the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them.
5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication. 7 The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him. 8 The Lord is their strength, And He is a saving defense to His anointed.
21 Blessed be the Lord, For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city. 22 As for me, I said in my alarm, “I am cut off from before Your eyes”; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried to You.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
His forgiveness -
18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ 19 “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
6 Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and Your lovingkindnesses, For they have been from of old. 7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.
8 Do not remember the iniquities of our forefathers against us; Let Your compassion come quickly to meet us, For we are brought very low.
1 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive To the voice of my supplications. 3 If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him, And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
1 Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. 2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to Him, “Take away all iniquity And receive us graciously, That we may present the fruit of our lips. 3 “Assyria will not save us, We will not ride on horses; Nor will we say again, ‘Our god,’ To the work of our hands; For in You the orphan finds mercy.” 4 I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them.
18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. 19 He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.
15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
His blessing -
12 “Then it shall come about, because you listen to these judgments and keep and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you His covenant and His lovingkindness which He swore to your forefathers. 13 “He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your forefathers to give you.
17 “Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers, 18 if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.
3 then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
SO WHAT?
How does understanding the nearness of God’s mercy impact your relationship with Him?
In what ways can you embody God’s mercy in your interactions with others?
Reflect on a time when you experienced God’s mercy. What did that teach you about His character?
How can you remind yourself daily of God’s infinite mercy in your life?
What actions can you take to express gratitude for God’s mercy in your life?
In light of God’s mercy, how should you respond to someone who has wronged you?
How can understanding the depth of God’s mercy affect your view on forgiveness?
How can the concept of mercy influence your decisions in stressful situations?
What steps can you take to seek out and help those in need as a reflection of God’s mercy?
How do you think God’s mercy should shape your perspective on justice in society?
The Attributes of God, Volume 1: A Journey into the Father’s Heart (Chapter 5: God’s Mercy)
God is equal to Himself always. But when you’re in a jam, you need certain attributes more than others. When I’m in the doctor’s office I need pity. I want help. I can look up at the wall and see his diplomas and know that he’s educated. But I just want him to be nice to me because I’m always scared when I go to a doctor. And when we come to God our need determines which of God’s attributes at the moment we’ll celebrate. And we’ll have a thousand of them to celebrate.
Matthew 5:7 -
God’s Infinitude
God’s Immensity
God’s Goodness
God’s Justice
God’s Mercy
God’s Grace
God’s Omnipresence
God’s Immanence
God’s Holiness
God’s Perfection
God’s Self-Existence
God’s Transcendence
God’s Eternalness
God’s Omnipotence
God’s Immutability
God’s Omniscience
God’s Wisdom
God’s Sovereignty
God’s Faithfulness
God’s Love
