Mercy

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Psalm 89:14 Perfect Balance

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face. Psalm 89:14

Balancing life is very difficult for most people. Things tend to swing all the way one way or the other, and often very quickly. Moods and circumstances change on a regular basis, causing people to change how one acts or reacts to what is occurring. How a person feels in the moment determines how much mercy or truth that will be displayed during a situation. There is rarely a consistent solid balance in how people deal with things.

In talking about God, Ethan the Ezrahite says that righteousness and justice are the base foundation of His throne, and that mercy and truth are always with Him.

Doing the right thing and having justice at the same time is difficult for most people. Then adding in mercy and truth complicates the matters even more so.

God is always seeking for perfect actions, words and thoughts in everyone who follows Him. He will never act or say the wrong thing and will always guide His people on the correct path.

However, at the same time, God demands perfect justice. There is a price to be paid for sinning, doing something wrong, against God. That price is death, and God’s holiness demands it. People will try to hide the truth of their sin behind excuses, but God sees and knows the truth.

Although every person deserves to die because of sin, God’s love and mercy now steps in to remove those sins. Jesus, the perfect example of mercy, died on the cross to pay the death penalty for each and every sin. In mercy, He removes the sin so that people can have eternal life with God. This is where God balances perfect righteousness and justice, mercy and truth in the lives of every person.

You have different areas of your life that you have to work on to balance. Among those areas are righteousness and justice, mercy and truth. These need to be balanced in your own personal life and in your dealing with others. On your own, you will fail, but if you lean on God and seek His ways of how to live your life and how He works with you, God can show you how to bring in the correct balance and be more like Jesus each day.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know God’s righteousness, justice, mercy and truth; that God will guide you in how to balance His ways correctly in your life; and that you will treat others and yourself as God treats you.

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Psalm 86:13 God’s Great Mercy

For great is Your mercy toward me, and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Psalm 85:13

Judges are not always known to have mercy upon someone. They are more known for throwing the full book of the law against someone who has done something wrong. Occasionally there is a judge who sees someone who is truly repentant and has mercy upon that person. Once in a while a judge will lighten or even remove the sentence of judgement and deliver the person from the harsh judgement of the law, having mercy upon the person.

David recognized God great mercy towards him, and that God had delivered his soul from death.

Anytime someone has done something wrong or made a bad choice, the person desires for those in authority to have mercy in the judgement. No one wants to go through the full extent of punishment by the law, no matter how much it is deserved.

Judgements made by judges on this earth are just temporary judgements. The punishment only lasts for a time and is over.

God has set a standard for every person to live. It is one of holiness and righteousness. However, no person, except Jesus, has ever been able to live up to God’s standard of living. The moment one has sinned against God, that person deserves the harshest punishment for all eternity.

In His great love and mercy, God has provided a way for a person to have eternal life, despite having sinned against Him. His great mercy is found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus died and rose again so that the person who believes in Him may receive forgiveness and be delivered from the judgement of death and be given eternal life, though not deserved or earned.

From the moment you first sinned as a child, you have a death sentence upon your head. There is a judgement against you to send you to hell for all eternity. The only way to get out of that judgement is by the mercy of God found in Jesus Christ, who died for you and is willing to forgive you of those sins. Be willing to repent of your sins and seek His mercy. Accept what Jesus has done for you and be delivered from the judgement of eternal death and separation from God.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will seek God’s mercy upon your life; that you will repent of your sins against God; that you will know the deliverance Jesus provides from eternal death; and that you will know and accept God’s mercy towards you.

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Psalm 67:1-2 Blessed To Make God Known

God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us, Selah, that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among the nations. Psalm 67:1-2

Being blessed is often seen as something best for self and not for the benefit of others. People hold onto their own personal blessings for their own good, not to bless others. Selfishness and pride rise to the top when things are going good and successful for most people. They begin to look down upon others, rather than passing those blessings along or showing where those blessings came from.

In this psalm, the writer asks God to be merciful and bless them and cause His face to shine upon them so that His ways and salvation may be known among the nations.

Any person who has done something wrong will seek mercy upon the one judging them. No one wants the books thrown at them in harsh judgement. Along with not desiring the harsh judgement, everyone wants to be blessed and have great favor. This is most often to just look good in the eyes of everyone else.

Believers in the church will often have this same problem with self pride. They want to look like a good Christian believer in the eyes of others in the church. Their purpose for looking good is not so that the world may know God and His ways.

God’s purpose for believers upon this earth is to make Jesus known among the nations. Jesus came to seek and save the lost and then passed that mission onto every believer so that none would be lost.

As God has mercy and blesses a person, that person must be willing to share what God has done with others, letting the whole world know of God’s great mercy and love.

God has been merciful in your own life in forgiving you of the sins you have committed against Him. He has also poured out many blessings, if you take time to see them and count all of them in your life. These things God has done is not for you to hoard them and make you look good, but so that you can show the world His mercy and way to salvation.

Each day you will have opportunities to share what God has done in your life with someone who needs to hear it. Let the whole world know.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know God’s mercy in your life; that you will know God’s blessings in your life; that you will tell the world of the mercy and salvation God provides; and that God’s face will shine upon you.

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Psalm 59:16 Sing Of God’s Mercy

But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. Psalm 59:16

Mercy is something that people seek when they are caught having done something wrong. It is desired because they do not want to have the punishment that is due them inflicted upon them. Yet, when someone does something wrong to a person, that person does not want to show mercy, but wants vengeance to the full letter of the law.

As David was being threatened to be killed by Saul, he sings of God’s power and mercy because God has been his defense and refuge in the days of trouble.

It is easy to desire vengeance when someone has done something wrong. One wants as much punishment on the wrong doer as possible. It gives a person a sense of satisfaction at vengeance having been accomplished.

At the same time, most people forget about the wrongs that they have done. These are not only the wrongs done against other people, but also the wrongs done against God.

From the very first moment a person does something wrong (sin) against God, one is deserving of eternal punishment in the harshest way possible. Satan and the world is standing against the person with accusation of that sin.

Yet, God in His great love and mercy, is willing to stand in one’s defense and remove that sin instead of judgement and death. Jesus paid the price for the sin for those who believe in Him and trust Him. God defends the believer against the accuser and becomes one’s refuge or safe place in the day of trouble and accusation.

The moment the believer knows and understands this, one will sing aloud of His great power and mercy for all the world to hear.

God, in His great love and mercy has been willing to have mercy upon you and remove all sin and guilt in your life and defend you against your enemies. As the world stands to condemn you of sin, God removes that sin and gives you life, defending your belief in Jesus.

Be willing to sing out loud of the mercy that God has shown you. Let the world know of His great power in removing sin and becoming a refuge in this fallen world of trouble and death.

Today I pray that you will know Jesus as your Lord and Savior; that you will know God’s hand of mercy upon your life; that you will know God’s great power in your life; that you will sing of God’s mercy for the world to hear; and that God will be your refuge in days of trouble.

Picture by Aaron Burden on Unsplash