We continue our Word Nerd Wednesday study of the Beatitudes as Gwen Williams brings us this in-depth look at merciful.
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“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
Matthew 5:7 (NIV)
Merciful (Webster’s Dictionary): treating people with kindness and forgiveness: showing or exercising mercy, forgiving, compassionate, kind and softhearted
Merciful in the Bible: A quality intrinsic to the nature of God
Greek: full of pity, compassionate
Hebrew: God’s covenant lovingkindness
The Beatitudes
When we think about the sermon on the mount, we may reflect on how it feels like a Proverbs type message. The Beatitudes, as it’s commonly known, share how we should behave in our moral and spiritual character. It also means blessings.
The Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5, 6 and 7, is intended to identify the ways in which the followers of Jesus should behave in living a life of acceptance of God’s gracious invitation to enter the kingdom of heaven.Think back to when Jesus healed the sick and they testified to His mercy. And when He brought the Israelites out of Egypt. God’s mercy, His compassionate love for His creation leads Him to do what we can’t do for ourselves.
Jesus shared many blessings in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-11). An early contemplation on these blessings, the Beatitudes, came from St. Gregory of Nyssa, a mystic who lived in Cappadocia in Asia Minor around 380 AD. He described the Beatitudes this way, “a possession of all things held to be good.”
God’s mercy, His compassionate love for His creation leads Him to do what we can’t do for ourselves.… Click To Tweet
Deliverance
In the past, when I’ve heard about mercy, I’ve always heard about grace. Grace and mercy were coupled in every conversation. Then I started to really unpack what they meant individually and collectively. Grace meant God’s kindness, the unmerited and unearned favor of God, that was free. Mercy is deliverance from any judgment, forgiveness, given by God. Hebrews 4:16 declares, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Grace and mercy are the extension of God and in all of this, He calls us to be His disciples and to be the light of the world, and to share these blessings.
God wanted to awaken the compassion in us for our fellow man.
Colossians 3:13 encourages us to “bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
All of the beatitudes are intertwined and have grown out of the other in some way. For example, the one who is merciful has an eye for the poor in spirit and those that mourn, and relate to the meek and pure of heart. So blessed are the merciful, that is, those who don’t take to heart any deeds that are done them, intended or unintended. They are viewing the world and those in it through different eyes and a heart that’s wide open.
A child of God knows they are imperfect, and they live with imperfect people. I’ve heard it said, we should strive to have one blind eye and one deaf ear, realizing we have been in a similar place as the one who is in need of a compassionate response. “Blessed are the merciful,” who care for the fallen, for those that have gone astray, “for they shall obtain mercy.”
We should strive to think the best of our fellow man. If they have gone off the path, help guide them back onto the path, not join in the judgment. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
In reflection, mercy is the loving disposition towards those who suffer distress. Because we say in the Lord’s Prayer: “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Mercy. Whatever we have done to the least of them, we have done it unto God (Matthew 25). He calls us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, comfort those who mourn, forgive offenses, pray for others.
Mercy is the loving disposition towards those who suffer distress. #WordNerdWednesday Click To Tweet
Merciful
When I’ve messed up or others have missed the mark, I often utter the words, “Lord have mercy.” I’ve heard it used as a type of cliché saying, but if we really think about it, this is a plea, this is surrender, this is a cry of desperation sometimes. It’s a plea I’m not ashamed to admit or to exclaim. I humbly cry out when I’m in a tough situation or there is a hard doctor’s report to process through, this is my plea when I see an injustice given or received, it’s a cry when I see the poverty or hurt in the world, or when family or friends have turned away and can’t find their way back from a path of near destruction. Lord have mercy, and He does.
What I know for sure is that God hears our cry and our plea, whether shouted or whispered in tears. His grace is sufficient. His mercy overflows. His mercy never runs out. It’s just His character. His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV) and He is a God of second chances.
He is merciful and a God of restoration. We are still His children regardless of what we have said or done. We can come to Him and ask for forgiveness and instantly we are forgiven. And the restoration comes because of His great mercy, it might take a little time to be restored back to Him, but He eagerly awaits us. No matter what our circumstances are, He will be there. No matter how far we have gotten off the path, He will bring us back.
It’s like when a child runs in the house and knows they aren’t supposed to, then falls and breaks their arm. They come running and crying to the parent, looking for comfort and say they are sorry. They are instantly forgiven, however it may take several weeks for the arm to heal…to be restored. It’s a process, it might take a while, but it happens in His perfect timing. His mercies are new every morning.
Questions for Contemplation
“Before I suffered I went the wrong way, but now I obey Your Word.
You are good and You do good. Teach me Your Law.
The proud have put together a lie against me. I will keep Your Law with all my heart.
It is good for me that I was troubled, so that I might learn Your Law.”
Psalm 119:67-69, 71 NLV
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For more encouragement please join the discussions on these fabulous blog link ups – Suzanne Eller, Thought Provoking Thursday, Susan B. Mead, Faith Filled Friday, Grace and Truth, Faith and Fellowship Friday, Grace and Truth Friday, Good Morning Monday, Soul Survival, Monday Musings, Rah Rah Link Up, Tell His Story, Woman to Woman Wednesday, Women With Intention Wednesday, Sitting Among Friends, Testimony Tuesday, Planting Roots, Salt and Light, and Fresh Market Friday.
Thank you, Gwen, for the in-depth look at mercy.