Thank God for His Enduring Mercies

Have you ever had anyone to show you mercy? You knew you were guilty of something but were not punished or punished very lightly.

Once, when I was a young boy, I did something that caused me to know I was in trouble. I knew I was in trouble because I had done the same thing before and got in trouble then. As I weighed it out in my mind, I knew what I must do.

I went to my Mom and confessed my misdeed. I knew she was merciful and I cannot recall my Dad ever showing mercy (I’m sure he did, I just can’t recall it.) So, I asked my Mom to punish me, knowing that with her I would get off lightly. She did punish me but it was bearable.

When Dad got home, he immediately saw the evidence of what I’d done. He asked Mom what had happened. She told him I had done it and that she had already punished me. His response was, “I don’t care if you did; I’m going to punish him anyway.” So, by confessing my wrongdoing, I ended up getting punished twice -- once, lightly by Mom and then strongly by my Dad.

I love the memory of them both, but I will never forget the kindness and mercy that my Mother showed me.

God’s mercy is better than that. It’s not just that he feels sorry for us as if he were a softhearted mother. What he does have for us is compassion. Out of love, he did not want to see us punished, but because of who he is, God cannot just look away when we’ve sinned. Sin must be punished.

Therefore, what he did for us is beyond comprehension. He took the punishment that was ours and laid it upon his sinless Son that we might go unpunished. Forget a reduced sentence; no, he would take the whole load of our sin with its penalty – death.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5.21

His mercies are not just for a season for his chosen people, they are “forever.”

Psalm 136 Begins like this:

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
            For His mercy endures forever.

Oh, give thanks to the God of gods!
            For His mercy endures forever.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords!
            For His mercy endures forever:

The Psalm ends as it begins:

Oh, give thanks to the God of heaven!
            For His mercy endures forever.

Each of the twenty-six verses of that Psalm repeats the words: “For His mercy endures forever.”

I thank God today for his enduring mercies.

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3.4-7)