A CONCERT OF MERCY
Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your judgments.
Revive me according to Your judgments.
Psalm 119:156
TAKING IT IN
Picture a bike without air in its tires, a river bed without water, or a car without gas. Sometimes our spiritual lives are just like that, lacking power, vigor and life. Perhaps it is because it has been a long while since we pondered the greatness of God’s tender mercies.
The Hebrew word “racham” from which we get the words “tender mercies” speaks of God’s deep love and compassion for His people. Think of an orchestra conductor with his baton. He uses his gestures as the primary means to communicate musical ideas. This is what we have before us today, a concert of mercy! The Psalmist desires to communicate this beautiful and awe inspiring attribute of God and as he ponders these deep truths about God’s character, revival begins!
No matter how great the sinner, God’s mercies are greater! Though the wicked are far from salvation and far from God’s Word, the tender mercies of God are close to all who will seek them.
MAKING IT MEANINGFUL
Mercies are a picture of how God had pity on us in our poor situations and rescued us.
Consider the richness of that mercy in Ephesians 2:4-7:
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Mercy is a close companion of grace. A good way to understand the meaning of mercy is to see how it relates to grace:
Mercy is not getting what you do deserve and God withholds His punishment.
Grace is getting what you don’t deserve, the unmerited favor of God.
Psalm 103:8, 10-14 beautifully portrays this truth:
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love… He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgression from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. (NIV)
Paul recognized and so do we that we are the worst of sinners! In 1 Timothy 1:15-17 he heralds God’s mercy towards him and bursts out in praise and honor for the work of Christ is in his life:
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. NKJV
And aren’t we thankful that we come to a throne of grace where mercy is always waiting:
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
If that is not enough, may we remember and treasure that His mercies are new every morning – so that when we fail today and confess our sin, mercy is there tomorrow to pick us right back up!
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” Lamentations 3:22-24
WORKING IT INTO MY HEART
When is the last time you took a moment to look back at your life and recount the many ways you have seen God’s mercy actively at work. Do your thoughts convince you on a daily basis that His mercy is great? Do you find yourself starting to worship and admire Him because of His great mercies? His mercies are great because He is great!
Why is this so important on our journey to revival? The degree of mercy that we show to others is dependent on the amount of mercy that we have perceived ourselves to have received from Him.
I promise you as you consider His mercies, revival can’t help but spring up from your heart!
Imagine a world where believers everywhere are joining in concert to praise God for His mercy and then going out to bestow it on a wicked world that needs Christ. That’s revival!
Take time now to humble yourself and ask God to revive you in His mercies!