THE MERCY OF GOD
PSALM 103
“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
Psalm 100:5, “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Introduction:
Mercy is the result and effect of God’s goodness. The Psalmist said in Psalm 33:5, “He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth id full of the goodness of the Lord.” God is essentially good in himself and relatively good to us. They are both put together in Psalm 119:68, “Thou art good and doest good.” This relative goodness is nothing else than the mercy of God.
I. IT IS THE DESIGN OF THE BIBLE TO REPRESENT GOD AS MERCIFUL
Exodus 34:6-7, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7- Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
A. God does not clear the guilty, Psalm 57:10,“For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.”
B. His mercy is far above the heavens, Psalm 108:4, “For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth reacheth unto the clouds.”
C. The Rainbow is a symbol of God’s mercy, Genesis 9:16, “And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.”
II. GOD IS MORE INCLINED TO MERCY THAN WRATH
A. God delights in mercy, Micah 7:18, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”
B. He does not delight in wrath, Isaiah 27:4, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?”
C. God does not punish until He can bear no longer, Jeremiah 44:22-23, “So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day. 23-Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.”
D. God does not afflict us willingly, Lamentations 3:33, “For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.”
1. Punishment is call God’s “strange work,” Isaiah 28:21, “For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.”
2. He is slow to anger, Psalm 103:8, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
3. He is ready to forgive, Psalm 86:5, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.”
III. THERE IS NOT A SITUATION THAT GOD WILL NOT SHOW MERCY
A. When Israel was in captivity He showed mercy, Lamentation 3:22, “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.”
B. He could have destroyed Israel, Ezra 9:8-9, “And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. 9-For we were bondmen; yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us a reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.”
C. His mercy is on them that fear Him, Luke 1:50, “And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.”
CONCLUSION:
The Lord has certainly been good to us. His mercy has been shown to us throughout our lives. While we get tired of those who offend us, He continues to show His mercy when we deserve His wrath. Thank the Lord that He does not delight in wrath and that we have been saved from His wrath by trusting Jesus Christ as our Savior.