God’s Gift of Mercy
Do you ever feel terribly sorry for something you did or said—or didn’t do or didn’t say?
That’s good. It means your conscience is working.
We live in a culture where individuals and groups condemn other individuals and groups, but each of us needs to realize that we all need mercy, God’s mercy. Praise God that He kindly offers it to us through Jesus.
We studied mercy in our ladies Bible class yesterday. One passage we read was David’s prayer in Psalm 86, when he said:
But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
Slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.
Psalm 86:15
Our teacher pointed out the next verse, which reads like this in the New American Standard Version:
Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Grant Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
Psalm 86:16
She pointed out that the New International Version translates the last clause this way:
. . . save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did.
Psalm 86:16 NIV
I had rarely, if ever, thought seriously about King David’s mother. The Bible tells us little about her. I love realizing now that David’s mother served God. She was God’s maidservant. Acts 13:22 tells us that God considered David a man after His own heart. Perhaps one of the reasons that was true was that David grew up with a mama who was God’s maidservant.
David was far from perfect. Some of his sins were horrible. However, David was a man with a conscience that did what it was supposed to do; and when David was convicted of his sin, his heart was penitent. David knew he need mercy, and he trusted God to give it.
When the perfect time came for our merciful God to send His only Son to earth to die for our sins, He sent Him as the Son of David. The story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew begins with these words:
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David . . .
Matthew 1:1
On Tuesday night, Ray and I celebrated the Christmas dance performance of one of our granddaughters with ice cream treats at Dairy Queen. Across the street at a roofing business, I noticed this pretty reminder of Jesus’ birth.
Praise God for His mercy for us, our children, our children’s children, and all our future generations.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting
And His faithfulness is to all generations.
Psalm 100:5
