"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy" (Psalm 103:8). "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us" (Ephesians 2:4) made us alive in Christ. Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7), and "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:36).
Mercy is God not giving us the judgment we deserve, and then going further with kindness we could never earn. The Old Testament often pairs it with lovingkindness and compassion; the New Testament shows it most fully in Jesus. Mercy is also a thread running through the Christmas story: Mary and Zacharias both sing about it in Luke 1. These twelve King James verses show how merciful God is, how His promised mercy came to us in Christ, and how He calls us to be merciful in return. For the closely related themes of pardon and kindness, see forgiveness and the goodness of God.
The LORD is merciful
1. Psalms 103:8
"The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy."
David echoes the way God described Himself to Moses (Exodus 34:6): merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. God is not stingy with mercy; He has plenty of it.
2. Psalms 103:11
"For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him."
How much mercy? As the heaven is high above the earth. David reaches for the biggest measurement he knows, and the next verse adds that God removes our transgressions as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).
3. Ephesians 2:4-5
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
Two of the most hopeful words in Ephesians are But God. We were dead in sins, but God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ. Mercy is not God overlooking sin; it is God rescuing sinners.
4. Hebrews 4:16
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Because Jesus our high priest understands our weakness, we can come boldly unto the throne of grace to obtain mercy. You do not have to clean yourself up first; mercy is exactly what you come to receive.
Mercy promised and fulfilled in Christ
5. Luke 1:50
"And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation."
In her song, Mary praises the God whose mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. Your parents, your children and their children all depend on the same mercy.
6. Luke 1:54-55
"He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy; As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever."
Mary sees the coming of Jesus as God remembering His mercy and keeping His word to Abraham and his seed. Christmas is mercy keeping a very old promise.
7. Luke 1:72
"To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;"
Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, sings that God has come to perform the mercy promised to our fathers. A few verses later he praises the tender mercy of our God (Luke 1:78), a phrase loved in the Advent season.
8. 1 Peter 1:3
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"
Peter traces our new birth to God's abundant mercy, which gives a lively hope through the resurrection of Jesus. Mercy does not only cancel a debt; it starts a new life.
Blessed are the merciful
9. Matthew 5:7
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. People who have received mercy become merciful, and the merciful keep discovering more of God's mercy. It is a circle of grace.
10. Micah 6:8
"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"
What doth the LORD require? To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God. Notice the word love: God wants us not merely to show mercy when we must, but to delight in it.
11. Luke 6:36
"Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful."
Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Jesus says this right after commanding love for enemies (Luke 6:35). God's mercy toward us sets the standard for our mercy toward others.
12. James 2:13
"For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment."
James warns that those who show no mercy will face judgment without mercy, but mercy rejoiceth against judgment. Holding grudges is costly; mercy sets everyone free, including the one who shows it.
A short prayer
Merciful Father, thank You that Your mercy is higher than the heavens and new for every generation. Thank You for not giving me what I deserve and for giving me Jesus instead. Make me merciful as You are merciful: slow to anger, quick to forgive, and glad to show kindness. In Jesus' name, amen.
Go deeper: a SOAP study prompt
Pick one verse above and write: - Scripture: copy the verse by hand. - Observation: what does it say? Who is speaking, to whom? - Application: what does it mean for you today? - Prayer: turn it into a two-line prayer.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between mercy and grace?
A common way to put it: mercy is God not giving us the punishment we deserve, and grace is God giving us kindness we do not deserve. The two often appear together, as when we come to God's throne to "obtain mercy, and find grace" (Hebrews 4:16).
What does the Bible say about God's mercy?
That it is plentiful (Psalm 103:8), enduring, "for his mercy endureth for ever" (Psalm 136:1), new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), and rich in Christ (Ephesians 2:4). Psalm 136 repeats that refrain in all 26 of its verses.
What does it mean to love mercy?
Micah 6:8 calls us "to love mercy": not just to show mercy now and then, but to treasure it. In practice that means forgiving quickly, helping people who cannot repay you, and treating other people's failures as gently as God treats ours.
What are the tender mercies of God?
Tender mercies is a King James phrase for God's warm, compassionate kindness, as in "his tender mercies are over all his works" (Psalm 145:9). At the birth of John the Baptist, just before Jesus was born, Zacharias sang of "the tender mercy of our God" (Luke 1:78).
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
Related: Bible verses about forgiveness · Bible verses about the goodness of God · Bible verses about God's love · Bible verses about Advent · Bible verses about revival · Bible verses about humility
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