Lover Mercy and trust in Mercy

Micah 6:6–8 (NKJV)

6 With what shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, With calves a year old?

7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

What does it mean to love Mercy

Mercy, is receiving something that you don’t deserve. (in a good way)

Ephesians 2:1–8 (NKJV)

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath[Judgement], just as the others.

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (1)(by grace you have been saved),

6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places (2) in Christ Jesus,

7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,

Salvation is a product of God’s Mercy.

When we were children of wrath (judgement) deserving of death.

God bestowed upon us that which we were far from deserving.

He gave as life instead of death, and made us in the likenes of hi son Christ, and placed us in heavenly places.

Titus 3:3–7 (NKJV)

3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.

4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,

5 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,

6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,

7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The salvation that God showed towards us is according to the measure of his Mercy.

Luke 6:35–36 (NKJV)

35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

It is not mercy when God is kind to the Just and righteous person

It is mercy when God is kind to the unthankful and Evil.

He is giving them what they don’t deserve.

We also are told to be Merciful, to give to people what they don’t deserve.

Showing kindness to those who don’t deserve our kindness, compassion to those who don’t deserve our compassion, when we have opportunity.

The scripture goes beyond just being Merciful, we are told to Love it.

We must love to see God show mercy to people, giving to the undeserving what they don’t deserve but also we must love doing the same. Why?

God not only is Merciful but he delights in Mercy

Micah 7:18–20 (NKJV)

18 Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy.

19 He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea.

20 You will give truth to Jacob And mercy to Abraham, Which You have sworn to our fathers From days of old.

God not only gives mercy but delights in doing so. He does not do it grugly or out of compulsion but cheerfully, in great pleasure and delight,

God does not have delight in Judgement, but he has delight in Mercy.

Ezekiel 33:10–11 (NKJV)

10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?” ’

11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’

The mercy seat in the Ark of the Covenant.

God said i will speak to you from the mercy seat.

God deals with his people through the mercy seat,

Isaiah 55:6–9 (NKJV)

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

We tend to restrict our compassion and kidness when it comes to people who have done us harm or evil but God is not like us.

God opens the flood gates of mercy to those who turn to him regardless of the way sin of wickedness.

All in all

God is rich in Mercy, he is the Father of all mercies, (2 Cor 1:13)

Furthermore, he delights in being Merciful,

We too must delight and love Mercy. Not only when we receive it but also when we give it.

Example of Jonah

Jonah 3:5-10, 4:1-4

Example of Moses

Numbers 14:1-20

Moses was a man who understood God heart when it comes to Mercy.

Just like God, even when it came to God standing up for him in Judging the people,

If this was Jonah he would gladly accepted God’s offer to destroy them and make him a great and mighty nation.

Psalm 103:1–18 (NKJV)

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:

3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,

4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

6 The Lord executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;

12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him.

14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.

17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children,

18 To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

“he knows our frame and remembers that we are dust”

We know our own limitation, our frailty, but it is great relief to know that God knows it too.

His dealing with us, is not according to his perfect standard but according to our frailty.

He does not despise it, but rather delights because it ia an opportunity for him to show mercy.

Hebrews 4:16 “16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Psalms 147:10-11 “10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy.”

What i find interesting is God has no pleasure in the show of our strength, because he know it is but frail.

He delights and take pleasure in those who hope not in their own stregth but in his Mercy.

Trust in the Mercy of God

Psalm 52:8–9 (NKJV)

8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever.

9 I will praise You forever, Because You have done it; And in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good.

Those who trust in the Mercy of God will floursih the house of God.

Psalms 90:14 “14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days!”

Moses understood the weight of God’s perfection, and the requirement of his laws.

Yet he had asked God to show him the extent of his mercy early on when he fails to meet those standards so that he will rejoice all the rest of his days.

We must not be people who live in terror and fear in the house of the Lord. That even a little bitty mistake will bring thunder and lighting from heaven.

We have a God who understand our frame, that we ar dust and and delights in showing mercy when we fail.

Let our soul rest in this fact and let it be our hope as we live in the house of the Lord.

Jude 20–21 (NKJV)

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Our final hope is the coming Mercy unto eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Your hope of inheriting eternal life, making it to the promise land should not be based on your own merits of your stregth, and ability to keep yourself from evil but rather the Mercy of God.

Which of any of the Israelites made it to the promise land becuase of their righteousness.

They all made it because of God great mercy and promise he had made.