January 24
“Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, ‘Seek My face,’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’ Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation,” Psalm 27:7-9.
The psalmist pleads with the Lord to hear his cry for help. He does not claim that he has a right to cry for help or that God is obligated to help him because of who he is or what he has done. This becomes clear from the next expression: “Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.” He wants God to hear his cry and answer him because God is a merciful God. Mercy is God’s undeserved love revealed through Christ Jesus.
Each of us as a child of God asks God to hear and answer our cry for help for His limitless mercy’s sake. We daily sin much, and indeed we deserve nothing but God’s punishment. Our only hope is assured in God’s mercy, which is His limitless love. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved,” John 3:16-17.
It would require a lot more space than we have available in one morning devotion to list the many references to God’s mercy which are recorded in the Bible. There are many references to God’s mercy in the Old Testament. Briefly scan the four Gospels and note the people who approached Jesus and pleaded for His mercy. “Two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, ‘Son of David, have mercy on us!’” Matthew 9:27. “A woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed,’” Matthew 15:22. “A man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely,’” Matthew 17:15. The ten lepers “lifted up their voices and said, ‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!’” Luke 17:13. In her Magnificat, Mary said, “His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation,” Luke 1:50. In the parable of the two men who went into the temple to pray, the tax collector “would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’” Luke 18:13.
There are many references to God’s mercy in the Epistles. The apostle Paul wrote to Titus, “According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,” Titus 3:5-6. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “God . . . is rich in mercy,” Ephesians 2:4. To the Romans, Paul wrote, “God . . . shows mercy,” Romans 9:16. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wrote, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need,” Hebrews 4:16.
God asks us to seek His merciful face. He does not hide His merciful face and look the other way. Momentarily, it might appear to be otherwise. However, our merciful God assures us through the prophet Isaiah, “‘For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer,” Isaiah 54:7-8. His mercy, grace, and forgiveness are revealed in the sending of His Son, the Lord Jesus, to be our Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Believe and trust in His mercy and forgiveness and you will be saved.
“With broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry.
Thy pard’ning grace is rich and free,
O God, be merciful to me!” Amen.