Tuesday, April 13, 2010

What is Mercy?

I recently read the following Psalm, and was struck by "His mercy endures forever" refrain over and over. I thought,what is God's mercy? The traditional sense is the mercy God showed by sending Jesus to earth to save us from sin. OK that's great, but from reading this Psalm I thought to myself there is more than just that theological line! So read the Psalm below and I'll tell you what I learned this week!

Psalm 118:2-4 "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let Israel now say, His mercy endures forever.Let the house of Aaron now say, His mercy endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord now say His mercy endures forever." Psalm 136 has this same refrain after each sentence in many of the verses as it tells all God has done for the world basically!

Again my interest was piqued in what is mercy, what really does it mean. God said, get out the dictionary and read and I will show you. So I did that on Sunday morning while the house was quiet and what an amazing series of words came to light to explain mercy.

Webster's dictionary explains mercy like this " 1)compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy or other person in one's power;compassion, pity or benevolence. 4) An act of kindness, compassion or favor. 6) 'at the mercy of'= subject to ;entirely in the power of.
opposite-cruelty
Synonym-forgiveness,indulgence,clemency,leniency,lenity,consideration,tenderness,mildness."

WOW! I love number 6, its how we are to be with God!We are to be entirely in the power of God, its how the Holy Spirit works best with us, when He is in control!

Next I looked up compassionate,forbearance and benevolence for further evaluation.

Compassion from (Webster's)-"1) A feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by suffering or misfortune accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the pain or remove its cause."

WOW,again! God sees us in our sinful state and had compassion on us! He desires always to alleviate our pain! Our pain is caused by Satan and one day he will be removed FOREVER! That day God will show us ultimate mercy!Meantime, God's daily mercies are abundant just so we can get thru our days. He gives me little mercies every day, little or big places to help me. We need to focus on these and find them, dwell in their awesomeness because it shows how much God loves me and you!

Next I looked up forbearance and forbear in Webster's dictionary.
Forbear -"1)to refrain or abstain from;desist from. 2) to keep back;withhold.3) 'archaic' to endure 4)to refrain;hold back;5)to be patient or self-controlled when subject to annoyance or provocation."
Forbearance- "1)an act of forbearing;a refraining from something. 2)forbearing conduct or quality;3)an abstaining from the enforcement of a right."

God has had patience and endurance for mankind! God abstains from enforcing His right to punish and banish us all to Hell because He sent Jesus to be our Messiah and cover our sins! But the days will come when this forbearance will end and then here will you be then? To receive God's mercy which has no end is to receive Jesus as Messiah and covering for your sins, then you and I can live forever in God's mercy in heaven!

Lastly I looked up benevolence which means "1)desire to do good to others;good will' charitableness; 'to be filled with benevolence towards one's fellowman';2)an act of kindness;charitable gift." What a great picture of God toward us! He loves us so much and showed us by sending Jesus to cover our sins so we can have a relationship with Him now and forever!

So God's mercy does endure forever, just like Psalm 118 and Psalm 136 says! Now because of all God's mercy and protection we can sing the verse below today and every day. No matter how bad it may be,God's mercy is enough to get us thru life today!

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it."

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