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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadR.A. Torrey Collection: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About God): 11- The Mercy or Loving-Kindness of God
TOPIC: Torrey, R.A. - What Bible Teaches (About God) (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 11- The Mercy or Loving-Kindness of God
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Ch 11 The Mercy or Loving-Kindness of God
PRELIMINARY NOTE : The same Hebrew word is translated sometimes "mercy" and sometimes "loving-kindness." These two words, therefore, mean precisely the same thing. The Hebrew word should have been translated uniformly the one or the other. The word "mercy" in our English translation of the Old Testament is in a few instances a translation of another Hebrew word. This latter word corresponds to the Greek word always translated "compassion" in the New Testament. It covers essentially the same thought as the other word; in fact, in the quotation in Rom_9:15 ("For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom 1 will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion''), it is translated by the Greek word for mercy. The primary meaning of the word most frequently used is "kindness," especially kindness exercised toward the suffering or sinning. It is so translated thirty-nine times in the Authorized Version. In thirty-one of these instances it is used for the kindness of man toward man, and in the remaining eight for the kindness of God toward man.
I. GOD IS MERCIFUL.
Psa_103:8 — "The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy."
Deu_4:31 — "(For the Lore) thy God is a merciful God); he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them."
Psa_62:12 — "Also unto thee, O LORD, belongeth mercy."
Psa_145:8 — "The LORD is gracious and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy."
Psa_86:15 — "But thou, O LORD, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth."
Proposition: God is merciful, plenteous in mercy.
II. TOWARD WHOM IS THE MERCY OF GOD MANIFESTED?
Rom_9:15; Rom_9:18 — "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth."
First Proposition: God's mercy is manifested toward anyone He wishes. He is absolutely sovereign in the exercise of His mercy.
But it should be remembered that while God is absolutely sovereign in the exercise of His mercy and while no one can dictate toward who he shall show mercy, in point of fact He wills to have mercy on all. (See 2Pe_3:9 — "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.")
Deu_7:9 — "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations."
Exo_20:6 — -"And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."
Psa_103:11; Psa_103:17 — "For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children."
2Ch_6:14 "And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their hearts."
Second Proposition: God's mercy is manifested toward those who fear or love Him: His servants who walk before Him with all their hearts.
"The fear of the LORD" and "the love of God" as used in the Bible are nearly synonymous. Compare Pro_8:13; Pro_16:6 with 1Jn_5:3. They look at the same practical attitude toward God from different points of view.
Pro_28:13 — "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper but whoso contesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."
Third Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward everyone who confesses and forsakes his or her sins.
Psa_32:10 — "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about."
Fourth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward the one who trusts in the Lord: "Mercy shall compass him about."
Psa_86:5 — "For Thou, LORD, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Thee." Fifth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward all who call upon Him.
See also Rom_10:12-13 — "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved."
Isa_49:13 — "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth in singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."
Sixth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested toward His afflicted people.
III. HOW IS THE MERCY OF GOD MANIFESTED?
Exo_34:7 — "Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and fourth generation."
Isa_55:7 — "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
Jon_4:2 — "And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray Thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil."
Jer_3:12 — "God and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever"
Mic_7:18 — "Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not His anger forever because He delighteth in mercy."
Psa_51:1 — "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy
lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions."
Num_14:18-20 — "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. And the LORD said, I have pardoned according to thy word."
First Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in His pardoning sin when confessed and forsaken.
This manifestation of God's mercy lies at the basis of many other manifestations. Nevertheless, it is not true, according to Biblical usage, that "mercy is exercised only when there is guilt."
Neh_9:16-18; Neh_9:26-27; Neh_9:30-31 — "But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments. And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness and forsookest them not. Yea, when they had made them a molten calf, and said, this is thy God that brought thee up out of Egypt, and had wrought great provocations." (See also intervening verses.)
"Nevertheless, they were disobedient and rebelled against thee, and cast thy law behind their backs and slew thy prophets which testified against them to turn them to thee, and they wrought great provocations. Therefore, thou deliverest them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them: and in the time of their trouble, when they cried unto thee, thou heardest them from heaven; and according to thy manifold mercies thou gavest them saviours, who saved them out of the hand of the enemies. Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by the spirit in thy prophets: yet would they not give ear: therefore gavest thou them into the hand of the people of the lands. Nevertheless for thy great mercies' sake thou didst not utterly consume them nor forsake them; for thou art a gracious and merciful God."
Second Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in his bearing long with sinners even when they harden their necks and persist in sin. (Compare to 2Pe_3:39 — "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.") Psa_6:1-4 "O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak: O LORD, heal me, for my bones are vexed. My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies' sake."
Php_2:27 — "For indeed he was sick, nigh unto death: but God had mercy on him; and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow."
Exo_15:13 — "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed: thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation."
Third Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in Him delivering His people from sickness, sorrow, and oppression.
Psa_21:7 — "For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most high he shall not be moved."
Fourth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in Him maintaining the security of those who trust Him.
Psa_59:16 — "But I will sing of thy power: yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble."
Fifth Proposition: The mercy of God is manifested in His acting as a defense and refuge in the day of trouble.