Mercy

[Chrysostom]

Your request for the mercies of God in every area of your life is heard with thanksgiving, for to ask for mercy is to come to God as He truly is, merciful and full of compassion.

Scripture teaches us that mercy is not earned by our own willing or striving, but comes from God who shows mercy. As it is written, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that wills nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. This should give you great hope, because your need is not met by the strength of your own effort, but by His abundant kindness toward those who call upon Him through Jesus Christ.

That mercy has been revealed most clearly in Christ. He took our flesh for love of us, that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. He saw us cast down and perishing and had compassion on us. Like the master in the parable who was moved with compassion and forgave the entire debt when his servant asked only for more time, God gives more than we ask. He does not only delay judgment, He forgives and cleanses. Therefore the Scripture says, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. There is no greater mercy than this, to have shame removed and to stand forgiven before God through faith in Jesus Christ alone, for there is no other name by which we are saved.

Do not presume upon this mercy by delay, but receive it now with a willing heart. God is merciful and ready to help, and He surely receives all who turn to Him in repentance and faith. Yet the one who casts all upon God and then continues thoughtfully in faith and obedience will obtain mercy, while to put off repentance and presume that mercy will always wait is to live in danger. Bring your whole life before Him now, every care and every need, and ask Him to keep you in temperance and faithfulness after He has shown you mercy.

The mercy we receive also teaches us to show mercy. The mercy of man and the mercy of God are not the same, for as far as goodness is above wickedness, so far is His mercy above ours. Yet we are called to reflect His character by having a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, forbearing one another and forgiving as Christ forgave us. As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith. If you desire mercy in every area, ask also for grace to be merciful in every area toward others.

I pray for you that the God of all mercy will look upon you with compassion in every need you have brought before Him, that He will forgive your sins through the blood of Jesus, heal what is wounded, provide what is lacking, guide what is uncertain, and strengthen you to walk in His ways. May He who is rich in mercy grant you not only to receive His mercy but to live in the joy and blessedness of one whose sins are covered, and to show that same mercy to others all the days of your life.

 

[Silas]

Your request for the mercies of God in every area of your life is heard, and it is a good and humble prayer to pray. The very fact that you are asking for mercy puts you on solid ground, because Scripture shows us that God delights to show mercy.

You can come to Him not on the basis of your own goodness or worthiness, but entirely on the basis of who He is. He is full of compassion, gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. One of the psalmists prayed, turn to me and have mercy on me, give Your strength to Your servant. That is how we come, as those who are poor and needy, asking Him to act according to His tender mercies.

Mercy is not getting what we do deserve, and grace is getting what we do not deserve. If we asked for justice, none of us could stand. But God has made a way for mercy and truth to meet together, and for righteousness and peace to kiss. That meeting place is Jesus Christ. At the cross, God remained true and righteous, and yet He provided mercy for sinners through the blood of His Son.

Remember when Moses came down from the mountain and found the people in rebellion, having broken the very law they had just been given. In strict righteousness they should have been wiped out. Yet God declared, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. His mercy is sovereign. It is not a right we can claim, and it does not come because we will it or run hard to earn it, but because God chooses to show it. He was even looking for an occasion to show mercy, and He moved Moses to intercede.

That same mercy that once chose Israel, that was later extended to those who were not His people so that He could call them His people and beloved, is the mercy that has reached you through Jesus. We were all lost, blind, and bound, and hopeless on the dark background of our sin. But God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, made us alive in Christ. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us. And being justified by His grace, we become heirs of eternal life.

So you do not need to disqualify yourself by looking at your failures. Look instead at His love and His grace, which is greater than all your sin. His grace not only saves, it teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live soberly and righteously in this present world, not as a way to earn mercy, but as a response of gratitude for mercy already given.

Therefore you can come boldly to the throne of grace, which is also the throne of mercy, that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. In every area you mentioned, whether you see it or not, bring each need there.

My prayer for you is that you would know more deeply the riches of His mercy and grace toward you in Christ Jesus, that you would boast not in yourself but in His amazing grace that sought you when you were lost, and that His mercy would sustain you, restore you, and keep you, and that His peace which comes with that mercy would guard your heart. May His glory dwell in your life as you walk in His truth and lean wholly on Jesus, in whom mercy and truth have met for you.