As the wings of the cherubim touched one another in the midst of the house, so Mercy and Truth are such a pair as will either lodge together or leave together. There was such a similitude of nature between the Twins of Love, eros and anteros, that at once they wept, and at once they smiled, they fell sick together, and they recovered jointly. Such are the Twins of Grace, Truth, and Mercy; she that would have them out in twain and parted is an harlot, she that cries spare and preserve them whole, she is the mother and must enjoy them. Look upon them in a state of policy; mercy without truth is a sweet shower dropping on the barren sands, quite spilt, and no blessing follows it. Truth without mercy is extreme right and extreme injury. Mercy without truth is a dangerous pity. Truth without mercy is not verity but severity. Consider them towards God and heaven, and then most unfit it is that either should be alone. A faith of mere protestation without good works, such is truth without mercy; it might have been in the Gergesene swine, for such a faith is in the devil, says St. James. All the integrity of the heathen, all the goodness that Socrates could teach, because it is not in Christ, such is mercy without truth. St. Austin compares them thus: “A pagan living without blame before man is a man with his eyes open in the dark midnight, and he that professeth Christ and not mercy, but is sold to commit iniquity, is one with his eyes shut in a clear day, and he sees as little.” (Bp. Hacket.)
Bind them about thy neck.--
True phylacteries
(see Deu_6:8):--
I. The substance of a true phylactery: “Mercy and truth.” These are the two grand elements of revelation they meet man’s nature as a being possessing intellect and heart, each of which has its respective cravings and claims.
II. The uses of a true phylactery. The old phylacteries seem to be used--
1. As mementoes. They were to remind the wearer of the law.
2. As safeguards. This was, indeed, a later and superstitious use. Still “mercy and truth” rightly worn are safeguards. They protect us from what is wrong and ruinous. (D. Thomas, D.D.)
The combination of mercy and truth in a good life
A double metaphor, wherein keeping mercy and truth, or exercising them outwardly, is compared to tying a gold chain about the neck for ornament; and retaining them in the heart is compared to things written in a table-book, that they may not be forgotten.
1. Duties to men are to be made conscience of, as well as duties to God.
2. Mercy and truth should always go together; because both are ornaments to us. Men wear lace on good clothes, so doth mercy adorn truth. Both are profitable unto others.
3. The want of one buries the commendation of the other.
4. Both aretogether in God, else could we look for no favour from Him. Truth is required in all our dealings with men; but truth must always be tempered and toned with mercy. (Francis Taylor.)
Write them upon the table of thine heart.
Soul literature
Writing is a very ancient art. Moses knew it. There is a yet older writing, the penmanship of the soul. In this art every man is a busy writer. The soul registers every impression made on it. In comparing soul-writing with that of the pen, two things are observable correspondence and dissimilarity.
I. Correspondence. Both imply readers. Accuracy in both requires training. Both are either useful or injurious.
II. Dissimilarity. Soul-writing is more universal; more voluminous; more permanent; more useful to Christianity. Truth written by the soul in the life is more legible than truth written by the pen. It is more convincing; and it is more persuasive. Conclusion:
1. Life is a book which we are writing day by day.
2. The book of life should be a Christian book.
3. This book of life will have to be examined. (Homilist.)
Sacred inscriptions on the heart
At places of public resort, such as the summit of a lofty mountain or the site of a famous monument, you may see tables of wood or stone or level turf. All over them inscriptions have been chiselled so thickly that you could not now find an unoccupied spot to plant a letter on. The characters are various--some old, some new, some well-formed, some irregular scrawls, some mere scratches on the surface which a winter’s storms will wash out, some so deep that they will be legible for ages. The table lies there, the helpless recipient of ideas, good or bad, that stray comers may impress upon it. The heart of man is like one of these common public receptacles. (W. Arnot, D.D.)
Receptive tablets
1. The duty of parents is clear, and their encouragements are great. Watch the young. Stand beside that soft, receptive tablet. Keep trespassers away. Insert many truths. Busily fill the space with good, and that too in attractive forms. This is the work laid to your hand.
2. Afflictive providences generally have a bearing on this printing process. God sends what will break the heart or melt it. The heart, in contact with a busy world, was rubbed smooth and slippery. The type, when it touched, glided off the surface, and left no mark behind. This bruising and breaking opened the crust, and let the lessonin. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
