His Mercy

So tonight we're going to talk about the mercy of God. We thought it'd be a good follow-up to last week's lesson on the wr of God. And you're going to see some interesting parallels between last week's sermon and this week's sermon when you talk about the mercy of God. We have eight things we want to cover with you this evening. Number one is this: the mercy of God is number one manifested in this person.

Manifested in this person. Turn with me to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 will be the main order tonight of our text. So, you'll want to keep your finger there because we're going to keep coming back to Psalm 103 and look at eight principles that help us understand the mercy of God.

And the first one is that God's mercy is manifested. In his person. Psalm 103, verse number 1: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Verse number 8: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy. We must understand. That mercy is not something that God has. Mercy is something that God is. That's important. Why? Because mercy is God, His mercy then is uncreated. His mercy then is Une. It goes on. In fact, the Bible says in 1 Kings 3:6 that God's mercy is great.

It says in Psalm 86, verse number 5, that his mercy is plenteous. In Luke 1. 7, it says that his mercy is tender. 1 Peter 1. says his mercy is abundant. And over in Psalm 103, verse number 17, it says that his mercy is tender. Everlasting. The Bible says in Psalm 111, verse number 4, that our Lord is full of mercy, full of compassion.

Psalm 116, verse number 5: Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. Psalm 119:6: The earth, O Lord, is full of your mercy. Psalm 119, verse number 15. Great are your tender mercies, O Lord. Psalm 145, verse number 8. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion. Great. Mercy. Ephesians 2:4 says that God is rich in mercy because of his great love for us. 2 Corinthians 1. 3, God is called the Father of mercies. Over in Hebrews chapter 2, verse number 7, Christ is called our merciful and faithful high priest.

When Jesus Christ walked upon the earth and made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak. When he calls the paralyzed people to walk, when he's able to raise people from the dead, he demonstrated acts of mercy on a continuous basis. Why? Because God is. mercy. To understand mercy is to understand God because mercy is manifested in his person. Point number two mercy is measured In his provision, mercy is measured in his provision.

Look with me at verses 2 to 5 in Psalm 103. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits. Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit. Who crowns you with loving kind and compassion, who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle. The psalmist says, you must understand God's mercy. To do that, you must never forget the benefits of God. I wonder how many of us this evening have forgotten about God's benefits.

It's very easy to forget. He says that we are satisfied with good things, it doesn't say we're satisfied with rich things. It doesn't say that we're satisfied with many things. It doesn't say that we're satisfied with everything. It says we are satisfied with Good things. That's very important. I want to take a moment here just for a second because I think this is something you need to understand.

Turn back with me, if you would, to Psalm 3. It says in verses 9 and 10 these words: Oh, fear the Lord, you as saints. To those who fear him, there is no what? Want. To those who fear him, there is no want. If you want something that you do not have and feel empty because you don't have it, It's because you don't fear the Lord. For those who fear the Lord, there is no want. That's what the Bible says.

Either the Bible is true or it's false. I believe it's true. Now read on. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. If you seek the Lord, you shall want for no good thing. Why? Because the God who is good. Is going to demonstrate his mercy and satisfy your soul with good things. Look what it says over in Psalm 107. Psalm 107, verse number 9. Reads as follows. For he has satisfied the thirsty soul. The thirsty soul is satisfied. And the hungry soul he has filled with what is good.

Remember Matthew 5:6, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be Satisfied. Literally, they and they only are the ones who are satisfied. If you're not hungering and thirsting after righteousness, you're never satisfied. Never. And you will lack for good things because the God who is good only bestows them to people who are hungering and thirsting for his righteousness. But God wants to satisfy the soul of man. Could it be that the reason a lot of Christians are never satisfied in life is because they just don't want to be like Jesus?

If you seek him, if you hunger after him, if you thirst for him, if you fear him, the Bible says you'll be satisfied because you'll receive all good things.

His mercy can be measured in his provision. He provides for us absolution. He provides for us restoration. He provides for us satisfaction, elevation, coronation. That is a merciful God. Point number three.

His mercy is marked by his patience. Look down in Psalm 103, verse number 8. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kind. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep His anger forever. God's mercy is marked by His patience. God is angry at sin. But he is long-suffering with people. Genesis chapter 6, verse number 3. He said, That my spirit shall not always strive with man. And he gave them 120 years. Before he destroyed the ear, 2,000 years ago, the wrath of God was poured out on the Son, and God has been long-suffering and patient for 2,000 years.

And one day he's going to pour out his wrath again. But God is long-suffering because God is merciful, he is kind, he is good. That's our God. Point number four. Might take you a while to swallow this one, but let me help you explain it to you.

God's mercy. Is manifested number one in his person. Number two, it's measured in his provision. Number three, it's marked by his patience.

And number four, it's magnified. In his punishment. God's mercy is magnified in his punishment. Look what it says, verse number 10, Psalm 103. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us acc to Our iniquities. Why? Because God always deals with His people mercifully. That's why. Listen, you didn't obtain mercy when you got saved. God was always merciful to you. You are able to see more of that mercy at the point of salvation because you saved your soul, but God has always been merciful to you.

Because God is a merciful God. He is merciful to everybody who lives. It says over in Psalm 145, verse number 9: His mercies are over all his work. If God wasn't merciful to you, You would have died the moment you were conceived. But because God is merciful, He's allowed you to live that you might experience true sa grace. So God's mercy is magnified in his punishment. Look what it says over in Exodus 33, verse number 11. I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But that the wicked turn from his way and live.

You see, God's not up in heaven looking down upon us, looking to get back at us. Can't wait to get you and destroy your life. That's not the way God is at all. God is just, He is righteous. Therefore, he'll have to punish sin. But God is merciful. He doesn't delight in the death of the wicked. He wants man to come to him. He loves man. God is a merciful God. He wants man to come to Him and experience true union and fellowship with Him. That's what God wants. He doesn't want people to die in their sins.

You know the book of Lamentations, third chapter. What does it say? Verse number 22. The Lord's mercy indeed never ceases. His compassions never fail. But look what it says down in verse number. Thirty one for the Lord will not reject forever for if he causes grief then he will have compassion according to his abundant loving kind. For he does not afflict willingly or grieve the sons of men. See that? That's our God. We serve a great God. We must understand the mercy of God. It is magnified in his punishment.

So, whenever you see someone being punished for something or going through the ringer, it magnifies the mercy of God. To this point, that God has not destroyed their lives, He hasn't wiped them off the face of the earth because of His mercy, He has allowed them to live because of His mercy. He had bestowed good things upon them, even though they might not see them as good at the time. That's our God. We serve a great God. Number five. His pardon, or excuse me, his mercy is maximized in his pardon.

Back to Psalm 103, verse number 11. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. God looks down upon hell-deserving sinners with compassion, and He sympathizes with our condition, and then proceeds to remove our transgressions further than we could ever imagine. Why? Because God's mercy. Is maximized in his pardon. He separates them as far as the east is from the west.

Over in Psalm 86. Verse number five, it reads as follows: For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all who call Upon thee. Over in Micah chapter 7, verse number 18, it says, This: Who is a God like thee who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession? He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. That's our God. And so you need to understand that when God pardons a sinner, when God takes away your sin, He takes them as far away as they possibly can be and He remembers them no more because our God is a God.

Of mercy. Over in Daniel chapter nine, Daniel prayed for the forgiveness of his people, and it was based on the mercy of God. But there's a key. That's verse number 11 of Psalm 103. It says, As far as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his loving kind toward those who fear him. God only pardons those who fear him. God only forgives those who come to him and repent of their sins. Proverbs 28, verse number 13: he that covereth his sins Shall not prosper. But he who confesses and forsakes them shall find mercy.

See that? Those who confess their sin and forsake their sin are truly repentant, they find mercy. Psalm 32, verse number 10, Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. How about you? Have you pled to God on the basis of His mercy? Have you cried out to God on the basis of His mercy? Number six, not only is his mercy manifested in his person, measured in his provision, marked by his patience, magnified in his punishment, maximized in his pardon, but it's motivated by his pity.

It is motivated by his pity. Back to Psalm 103, verse number 13 and 14. Just as a father has compassion or pity on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he him knows our frame, he is mindful that we Are but dust. Psalm 109, verses 2 to 2, reads as follows. But thou, O God, the Lord, deal kindly with me for thy name's sake, because thy loving is good. Deliver me. For I am afflicted and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. I am passing like a shadow when it lengthens.

I am shaken off like the locust. My knees are weak from fasting, and my flesh has grown lean without fatness. I also have become a reproach to them. When they see me, they wag their head. Help me, O Lord, my God. Save me according to thy loving, and let me.

Them know that this is thy hand, thou, Lord, hast done it. David would plead. To his God based on his mercy. His son Absalom, who had wanted to take the kingdom from him. In his rebellious state, he had sought to kill him. Ahithophel, his once confidant and the grandfather of Bathsheba, had sought revenge upon him. And David cried out to God on the basis of his mercy, knowing that as a father has compassion on his children, so does our heavenly father take pity up us. Point number seven God's mercy is maintained throughout his plan.

It's maintained throughout his plan. Verse number 15. As for man, his days are like grass. As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more. And its place acknowledges it no longer, but the loving kind of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him. To those who keep his covenant, and who remember his precepts to do them. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his sovereignty rules over all. God's mercy is maintained throughout his plan.

The reason being is because God is eternal. His plan is eternal and his mercy is eternal. And therefore, his loving kind will be extended throughout eternity. It 's what leads us Into glory. It says over in Psalm 138, verse number 8, these words. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Thy loving kind, O Lord, is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of thy hands. It is not the wretchedness of man which causes God to show mercy. It's not your wretchedness that causes God to show mercy. For God is not influenced by things outside him.

You can't influence God because of your condition to do something. If that was the case, then every creature who had the leprous disease of sin. Would move God to show compassion on them and give them mercy. But that's not the case. See? Because God is immutable, unchangeable, that means there's nothing on the outside that can affect a change within him. God is always mercy. And so, therefore, God will show mercy on whom He will show mercy, not because of your wretched condition, but because He's a merciful God.

Does that make sense? To some of you, you're going to have a hard time with that. Jeremiah chapter 9, Jeremiah said, or God said to Jeremiah, Let not the mighty man boast in his might or the rich man his riches. If you want to boast of something, boast in this: that you understand and know that I am God who exercises loving kind and justice. And mercy on the face of the earth. If you want to boast about something, understand this: that you know that I'm a God of justice and a God of mercy. That you know me for who I really am.

Our God is a God of justice as well as a God of mercy. And therefore, by no means will he clear the guilty. Exodus 34, verse number 7. And yet the wicked shall be turned into hell. All the nations that for God. That 's what the Bible says.

But if you confess your sins and forsake your sins, You find mercy. That's what the Bible teaches. Now, you might not understand it. But that's good because it'll cause you to study your Bible much, much more. And lastly, we'll close with this: God's mercy is multiplied in his people. God's mercy is multiplied in his people. Psalm 103, verses 20 to 22. Bless the Lord, you, his angels, mighty in strength who perform his word, obeying the voice of his word. Bless the Lord, all you, his hosts. You who serve him doing his will, bless the Lord, all you works of his in all places of his dominion.

Bless the Lord, O my soul. The mercy of God is multiplied in his people in four ways. Number one, when we praise the Lord.

When we praise the Lord, the psalmist is blessing God and praising Him for His abundant mercy. Over in Psalm 59, verse number 16, it says, I will sing aloud of thy mercy. Psalm 136, all 26 verses deal with, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and his mercy, for his mercy endures forever. His mercy endures forever. The praises of his people. God's mercy is multiplied when we praise God for his wonderful mercy. Number two, when we pray to the Lord for help.

God's mercy is multiplied in his people when we pray to God and ask his help. It says over in Psalm 69, verse number 13, these words. But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord, at an acceptable time. O God, in thy greatness, or in the greatness of thy loving kind, answer me with thy saving truth. Deliver me from the mire and do not let me sink.

May I be delivered from my foes and from the deep waters. May the flood of water not overflow me, and may the deep not swallow me up, and may the pit not shut its mouth on me. Answer me, O Lord. For thy loving kind is good. According to the greatness of thy compassion, turn to me. When we pray to God, God's mercies multiply in his people. And number three, God's mercy is multiplied in this people when we present our bodies a living sacrifice.

Romans 12. 1 and 2. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your Logical form of worship. When we present our bodies to God as a living sacrifice, mercy is multiplied in our lives. Could it be? The reason you can't tap into the mercy of God is because you're unwilling to put your life on the altar as a living sacrifice for the work. God. It says in Psalm 116, verse number 12, What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

That's the question. And lastly, God's mercy is multiplied to His people when we perform deeds of mercy toward other people. It says in Micah chapter 6, verse number 8, He has showed thee, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of thee? But to do justly and to love mercy. And to walk humbly with thy God. Do you love mercy? That's what God requires from you. Do you love mercy? The point is, those who have experienced mercy. Should be the ones who extend mercy. That's what Jesus says: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

James said in James 2:13, judgment will be merciless to those who have shown no mercy. Those who know God have mercy on the needy. They reach out to them. Extend the mercy of God. How about you? Is that the way you are? That's what God expects from His people. Our God is a merciful God. He has bestowed upon us great and wonderful deeds of kindness because he's merciful. I trust that mercy will be multiplied in you. Because, number one, you're willing to praise the Lord because of his mercy.

Number two, you pray to the God of mercy. Number three, you present your body as a living sacrifice because of his mercy.

And number four, you perform deeds of mercy to those who are miserable.