Randy Zinn: Mercy me, mercy you

The dictionary defines mercy as “treating an offender better than he deserves; to pardon.” Another definition is “a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion.” Someone has said, “Grace is when God gives us what we don’t deserve and mercy is when God doesn’t give us what we do deserve.”

When I was growing up and disobeyed my parents, I never said, “Give me all that I deserve.” No, I always pleaded for mercy. When the police pulls us over on the road, we don’t say, “Officer, throw the book at me. Give me everything I’ve got coming to me.” Instead, we are very respectful and pray for mercy and just a warning.

There are some interesting aspects of God’s mercy I would like for us to consider. First, God’s mercies are new every day, We are assured of this in Lamentations 3:14, “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.” What comfort we find in the words of the song by Thomas O. Chisholm, “Great is Thy faithfulness:” “Great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” As for me, I need a new batch of mercy every day.

Next we see that God’s mercy is immeasurable, higher than the heavens. Psalm 108:4 tells us “For Thy mercy is great above the heavens: and Thy truth reaches unto the clouds.” Psalm 36:5 and 57:10 reinforce this same truth. His mercy will never run out.

We find, too, that God’s mercy is everlasting. Psalm 136:1 says, “O give thanks unto the Lord; for His mercy endureth for ever.” As a matter of fact, all 26 verses of Psalm 136 end with the statement, “His mercy endureth for ever.” Numerous other chapters in the Psalms contain this same wording as well as other books of the Bible. God wanted to make sure He got His message of mercy across and that we would not forget it.

In Psalm 90:14, we find that God’s mercy satisfies, “O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” The world can pacify us temporarily, it can gratify us for a time and it can every magnify us with its passing accolades, but only Jesus can save and satisfy the soul for eternity.

In addition to His mercy, God puts a high premium on mercy that He expects His children to show in their lives. The Bible tells us that it is better to obey God than to bring our offerings and make our sacrifices to Him. But, in Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:14 and 12:7, God says mercy is greater than sacrifice, “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” Then In Micah 6:6-8, the Bible expands on this subject stating once again that greater than offerings and sacrifices, “He hath shewed thee, 0 man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to ‘love’ mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” God wants us to do right, but He wants us to literally “love” showing mercy. (Oh, me! Mercy me, mercy you! Amen?)

Finally, God extends His mercy in the salvation of the soul, but not everyone accepts that mercy. For those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God’s mercy endures while the ages of eternity roll. The prayer for salvation that God hears is, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).

Randy Zinn is pastor of Russell Missionary Baptist Church in Russell.