And they lifted up their voices and said, "Jesus, Master, have mercy
on us."
Luke 17:13
If you grew up decades ago in the southern United States, you likely
remember hearing the expression, "Lord, have mercy!"
whenever life took a turn for the worse. It was a familiar expression
in the deep South because "the South" is synonymous with "the Bible
belt," and "Lord, have mercy!" is a biblical expression.
"Have mercy" occurs 46 times in Scripture, 12 times in Psalms alone--
the book in which authors were often found imploring God for relief or
help. Jesus was called upon to "have mercy" on several
occasions by those in need. And He responded by granting healing or
deliverance as required. What is mercy? It is when we don't get what
we deserve. Being sinners, we deserve all manner of judgment. So when
we feel we're in the middle of a judgment of circumstances, we call
out to God to "have mercy" and take the bad situation away. By grace,
God often does--grace being giving us something (relief) we don't
deserve. Grace and mercy are opposite sides of God's coin called love.
Find someone this week to show mercy to. If someone does something
wrong and thus deserves judgment, extend mercy instead.
(David Jeremiah)
The name Jehovah carries majesty in it;
the name Father carries mercy in it.(Thomas Watson)
