‘Have Mercy’

‘Have Mercy’

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51:1

When we have done wrong, and know that we have done wrong, it is hard to face it. The Psalm before us reflects David’s facing his sin with Bathsheba and the evil which he did to orchestrate the death of her husband. David has sinned greatly and now repents deeply. He begins with the cry, ‘Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness.’ When we have sinned against God, and we all do, we can only approach Him on the basis of His Own Character. We come to Him empty-handed, and utterly guilty. David cries for mercy because he cannot speak of merit, nor can he bear the full justice of God, lest it destroy him utterly. He must plead for mercy. To look at this in an evangelical sense, this bring us to Christ. Christ is the most thoroughgoing manifestation of the mercy of God. In Christ, ‘Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed.’ Our pleas for mercy, when we have sinned, will lead us inevitably to Christ. We deserve the justice of God. We have boldly and impudently served ourselves instead of obeying Him. We can only hope that He will be merciful to us. That mercy will only arrive upon the scene in the Person of Christ. You may find yourself today upon David’s ground.  In times of spiritual health, we look to Christ to lead us forward in grace.  Now, in our spiritual failure, let us look to Christ to heal us. He is the answer for every season. He is the One to Whom we fly when we need mercy.

Our most Gracious and Kind Savior,
we rejoice that we may ever look to You.
We praise You that You are merciful to us
when we have grieved You most.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning