The Mercy of God

December 9 (Luke 1:50)

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.  (ESV)

The song that Mary wrote after receiving the joyous news that she would be the mother of Jesus continues by acknowledging God’s mercy, but notice the two aspects of that mercy.  It is for those who fear God and it is always available.

When the Bible talks about fearing God, it does not mean the sort of fear that a child, worried about creatures under the bed, experiences in a darkened room.  It is does not mean the fear an adult faces while waiting for results from a biopsy.  It is the awe-filled respect and honor that is proper from humble creatures toward the infinite and majestic God who created them.  And God’s mercy is for all those who are humble before Him.  Those too arrogant and proud to fear Him would never think they needed His mercy in the first place.

Mary also says that this mercy extends from generation to generation.  It was available not only to her but to people of the third, fifteenth, and twenty-first centuries as well.  It is available to every nation and culture on the planet.  Perhaps it is time for you to quit trying to make life work and simply and completely throw yourself upon the mercy of God.  If you do, you will find rest and restoration for your soul as never before.

As a special feature this month, each devotion will include a link to one of the many glorious, musical versions of the “Magnificat.”  Each one includes the Latin text as well.  This week’s selection can be found here.  This is a lager work by Monteverdi, and the “Magnificat” begins at the 1:09:34 mark.

Lord, I need Your mercy to get through this day, to say nothing of this week, and all that lies in store for me.  From temptations my flesh is too weak to resist to demands I do not have the energy to fulfill, I need Your help.  I do not come asking You for anything based on my own merits, but rather ask for Your mercy.  In the name of Jesus, Who showed the greatest of mercies by taking my death to the cross, amen.

Pain And Faithfulness

August 7 (Lamentations 3:21-23)

But this I call to mind,    

     and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;    

     his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;    

     great is your faithfulness.  (ESV)

For twenty verses the writer of Lamentations has gone on and on about suffering.  He speaks of broken bones, wasted flesh, and pain like arrows driven into his kidneys.  There are twenty verses of some of the most graphic pain descriptions.  And then come these verses.

Do you have twenty verses of pain?  Of course you do, which is why these verses feel like cool, soothing medicine.  It is why these verses became the basis for one of the great hymns, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”  Suffering is real, and it is a false religion or false philosophy that pretends otherwise.  Emotional and physical pain will be part of the world until Christ returns, “but this I call to mind….”

Can you call to mind examples of His love, not just in Scripture, but in your own life?  Can you call to mind examples of His mercy?  The incredible, wonderful, amazing thing is that even if you recall acts of God’s love and mercy toward you from yesterday, you will, for a fact, experience new ones today.

Father, great is Your faithfulness indeed.  Even when my faithfulness to You is weak or lacking, Your faithfulness and goodness toward me never cease.  Help me to focus more on the verses of Your grace than the verses of my pain.  In the name of Jesus, in Whom I live and move and have my being, amen.

Copyright © 2016 by Steven R. Perkins