God bless you and greetings in the glorious name of Jesus Christ who demonstrated God’s lovingkindness and tender mercies to all who had eyes to see.
Mercy is closely related to compassion in the Bible. The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery describes mercy as compassion in action. Mercy is both feeling compassion and acting upon it. One of the best Biblical pictures of it is seen in the parable of the good Samaritan. We read that he “had compassion” (Luke 10:33) and then acted decisively as benefactor to the wounded traveller on the side of the roadside, an action that identifies the Samaritan as having “showed mercy” (Luke 10:37) on the wounded man.
God’s deep, tender love, mercy, and forgiveness toward his people is seen throughout the Bible in the face of deserved judgment and upon the condition of request and repentance. Ten times the phrase “tender mercies” occurs in Psalms. (Psalms 25:6; 40:11; 51:1; 69:16; 77:9; 79:8; 103:4; 119:77,156; 145:9.) In the first verse in the practical section of Romans, the magna carta of Christianity, the first and fundamental church epistle, Paul beseeches us to present our bodies a living sacrifice. When he does so, he does it by the “mercies of God.” Mercy has always been a vital part of a believer’s life.
Mercy stops us from getting what we deserve. It halts the consequences. We need to both plead for mercy for ourselves and extend mercy to those to whom we minister. To receive God’s mercy all we need to do is repent and ask. When ministering to others we frequently will need to remind them of God’s great mercy which endures forever (Psalms 107:1). Mercy looks back on previous failure and is granted to eliminate future consequences. Many times, God’s Word declares that Jesus was “moved with compassion.” He then acted mercifully to turn people’s suffering and heal their sickness and disease.
The concept of mercy was a part of many cultures at many different times. In the days before firearms when duels were fought with swords, when the loser fell to the ground and the sword was at his throat he could cry “Mercy.” The victor had the right to run his opponent through, but oftentimes he would heed the cry for mercy and grant life to the defeated foe. Mercy was granted to those who asked for it and had given up the fight.
Our God is a great and merciful God. Accurately picturing our heavenly Father as merciful encourages healing and deliverance for we often are so aware of how undeserving we are. But deliverance is not dependent on our worthiness, but upon God’s great love, mercy, and grace. In working with people, we have to make sure they know that. If they do not come asking for mercy, sometimes you have to let them know that mercy is still involved. They must know that they cannot earn it. It is a charisma, a gift of God’s grace. There is nothing they have done that denies it to them if they request and accept God’s mercy.
Mercy! It does not matter if we have made mistakes. It does not matter if we have blown it. That is when we need mercy. When we make a mistake, we just go to God. He knows! I guarantee, He already knows. But we go to Him, and we expect mercy. That is what Hebrews 4:16 offers, “that we may obtain mercy.” Not only do we get mercy, it says, “And find grace to help in time of need.” We get the mercy that we need, and we get more than enough to help others.