THE JOY OF MERCY

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I will exalt You, Lord, for You lifted me out of the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. Lord my God, I called to You for help, and You healed me. You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead; You spared me from going down to the pit.

Sing the praises of the Lord, you His faithful people; praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

When I felt secure, I said, “I will never be shaken.” Lord, when You favored me, You made my royal mountain stand firm; but when You hid your face, I was dismayed.

To You, Lord, I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy: “What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness? Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

Psalm 30

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

I’ve got some good news and some bad news. First the bad.

The bad news is that you and I are infected with a disease that has no cure. We have been terminally ill since the day we were born with no possible hope of being rid of our ailment during our life here on earth.

Our disease is far worse than cancer or diabetes or illnesses of the heart. It is more insidious and deadly than high blood pressure or high blood pressure or obesity.

You can try and control this illness but you’ll never be rid of it. And if you fail to treat it, then it will simply spread through you like wildfire and consume you. It will move you in the wrong direction and your life will be dictated by it.

What is this sickness?

It’s sin.

God created His world perfectly to include the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. They lived a carefree, unencumbered life in the beautiful garden God made for them. All was good, that is until the man and the woman decided to violate God’s command and in doing so, ushering in the disease that has impacted mankind ever since.

Yes, every disease originates somewhere and sin started in the garden with Adam and Eve. Their decision to pursue their desires over obedience to God’s will for them was the start of the same symptomatic behavior manifesting itself in man ever since starting with their children. You’ll recall Cain, Adam and Eve’s eldest son, murdering his brother Abel out of pure jealousy over him gaining more favor from God than he did. God warned Cain that through his anger, sin was “crouching at (his) door” further advising him to either rule over his sin or face being taken over by it. God told Cain that his sin desired to have him and so it did.

Ever since that first manifestation of sin through the children of Adam and Eve, we find account after account of people being taken over by the sin that desired to have them, enticed and seduced into following sinful desires over the righteousness offered by the Lord.

How did God respond to that?

In almost every case with punishment.

You see, God despises sin and He is ever trying to drive us to despise it as well. The non-believer may not understand the severity of sin but for Christians, we need to remember that it was sin that led to God give up His only Son Jesus as a living sacrifice to pay the price for the sins of the world. Sin put Jesus on the cross, it resulted in the Son of Man to die so we wouldn’t have to.

Yes, God hates sin and will bring correction when we opt to follow its desires over His. He ever is seeking to conform us using His holy discipline to conform us to His will, to His righteousness.

David, God’s chosen king of Israel, was no different than any other man or woman. He was a sinner like you and me and, looking at his words in the 30th Psalm, we find that he faced difficulties despite the fact that he was a man after God’s own heart, difficulties that included God hiding His face from David, leaving him dismayed.

Indeed, David was far from perfect in being fully obedient to God and so he found himself in the depths, facing possible death at the hands of his enemies. God could have allowed David to perish. He could have chose to ignore David’s calls for help but He didn’t

Instead, God brought David “up from the realm of the dead” and spared him from “going down to the pit.” When David faced what seemed to be the end, God rescued him and showed David His redemptive powers, redemptive powers grounded in grace, mercy, and love.

In David’s story and in the story of Israel, we see that although God is a God of correction, He is even more so a God of mercy. David attests to this in the following words:

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

David experienced first-hand the balance between judgment and mercy we all will experience with God. He came to see that the anger of the Lord lasted only for a moment. In other words, it didn’t last forever. God has shown that He will not keep us in consequence but will deliver and restore us from judgment in His appointed time.

Consider the early days of the people of Israel documented in the Old Testament. There you will find what I call the Old Testament cycle which could be a snapshot for any believer’s life if they think about it.

In the Old Testament cycle, the people of Israel would first violate God’s will in some way, usually by worshiping false gods prevalent in the societies around them in Canaan. After the Israelites entered into sin, God would send them a warning, usually by way of a prophet. The warning would be to turn from their sin or face judgment. There was no middle ground. The people of Israel would then ignore the warnings and opt instead to stay living in sin. This prompted God to carry out His promise of judgment on His people who once in the midst of it, cried out to God for forgiveness and asked for deliverance. And at His appointed time, God would grant their wish and restore His people. Then unfortunately, the cycle would start all over again with it repeating time after time after time.

So what do we find throughout Israel’s persistent and consistent disobedience? We find that God’s mercy is just as persistent and consistent.

This is the good news I have for you. That no matter how much we might fail and fall before God, He still loves us so very much and is always willing to extend His mercy to us when we repent and turn back to Him.

Indeed, David experienced God’s mercy to the fullest and didn’t keep his joy to himself but shared it with us. Let’s go back to his words in the 30th Psalm:

For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.

David, in the midst of his hardship had wailed and wore sackcloth as a sign of his repentance and mourning before God. And for his humble, contrite attitude, David received God’s mercy and favor, a favor that doesn’t perish but lasts a lifetime.

What did that do for David?

It brought him great happiness as he experienced fully the joy of mercy.

As we read the words of David, we are given a window into his heart where we see the grace of God producing a praise-filled attitude. The mercy of God changed David’s “wailing into dancing” and his remorse to joy - a joy that led his heart, mind, and soul to sing the Lord’s praises.

Friends, we are so much like David and the Israelites. We are sinners who fall short of God’s favor. We are sinners who experience God’s discipline and correction. And we are sinners who consistently experience God’s amazing grace when we turn to Him, repent, and ask to be restored. We experience the joy of mercy, no better displayed by God than through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, the only One who can save us. Indeed, truly experiencing the joy of mercy only comes through acknowledging that God so loved us that He was willing to give His only Son to die in our place on Calvary’s cross. For those who place their belief and trust in Jesus become justified (or made to be just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned).

God through His Son showed us His mercy, a mercy that should lead us to a sense of joy.

Do you know the joy of mercy in your life?

If so, then continue to lift up your heart in rejoicing unto the loving Father and His Son Jesus who saved us.

If not, why not make today the day you find the joy of mercy in your life?

Redemption and salvation through Jesus is just a heartfelt, committed prayer away – and the joy of mercy will follow, leading you to rejoice and praise the God who made it all possible.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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