Good morning. I’d like to ask you to turn to Matthew 9. We’d like to look at two stories that have specific instruction: one from Matthew 9 and the second from Matthew 12.
Beginning in Matthew 9:9:
And Jesus passed on from thence, and saw a man, called Matthew, sitting at the place of toll: and He saith unto him, Follow Me. And he arose, and followed Him.
And it came to pass, as He sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and His disciples.
And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto His disciples, Why eateth your Teacher with the publicans and sinners?
But when He heard it, He said, They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick.
But go ye and learn what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice: for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
And this is the phrase, the verse, I want you to focus on: “But go and learn what that is,” or literally, “Learn what that means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
And turn with me to Matthew 12, beginning at verse 1:
At that season Jesus went on the sabbath day through the grainfields; and His disciples were hungry and began to pluck ears of grain and to eat.
But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said unto Him, Behold, Thy disciples do that which it is not lawful to do upon the sabbath.
But He said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was hungry, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, which it was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but only for the priests?
Or have ye not read in the law, that on the sabbath day the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are guiltless?
But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple is here.
But if ye had known what this meaneth, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
For the Son of man is Lord of the sabbath.
And then, if you will turn in the Old Testament, Hosea 6:6, I think you will see the connection:
For I desire goodness, and not sacrifice;
and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings.
That is the Old Testament translation for mercy: lovingkindness. “For I delight in mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”
Lord, once again, we commit to You Your Word. We remind You, Lord, that You alone have the words of eternal life. And we call on the Holy Spirit of God to once again do what His ministry and mission is: manifest the Lord Jesus to us. Lift up the Lord Jesus.
We are so utterly dependent on You, Lord, for power to speak, for that anointing, and for the ability to hear and to retain. So, Lord, we bow the knee and ask You to take this written Word and breathe on it, enliven it, and cause us to be able to understand together what this means. In Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
For a couple of months now, it seems the Holy Spirit has been whispering to me this phrase from Matthew 9: “But learn what this means.” I cannot get away from it. It seems in the morning times, or during the day, the Holy Spirit would say, “But learn what this means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
Brothers and sisters, there is a real emphasis in that verse. The Pharisees came to the Lord Jesus at Matthew’s home, and they had this question. They said to the disciples, “Why is it that your Lord eats with tax gatherers and sinners? Why is it?”
They did not understand. And the Lord quoted this verse from Hosea 6:6, and He says to them—and this is not a kind word, brothers and sisters; this is a rebuke—He says to those Pharisees, “But you go learn what this means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
It seems to me that these people, of all people, should have known what the Lord meant. They knew Hosea 6:6. They were the keepers of the Word. Yet, in their religious zeal, in their dedication to sacrifice, they missed utterly and completely the nature of our God. That is no small thing.
This is not a kind word that the Lord says to them. He says, “But you.” He is almost saying, “But you should have known. Go learn what it means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
Then we know the story in Matthew 12 about the violation of the Sabbath. Again, these absolute Pharisees were so stirred up. They thought the Lord Jesus had profaned the Sabbath as His disciples plucked the grain while walking through the fields. They so absolutely missed the nature of our Lord Jesus.
He simply said to them again, “If you had known what it means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
Now, I do not know about you, the way you read that verse, but it seems to me there is almost a giving up with the Pharisees. Do not berate me and disagree; you may not agree. This is optional, okay? But it seems to me He goes from, “Go learn what it means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice,” to the next time He says, “If you had known what it means.”
They missed the heart of God. So, brothers and sisters, this is the burden that the Lord has seemed to lay on my heart: this issue of mercy. And if you want a title, title it by the Lord’s own words: “I Will Have Mercy.”
Oh, dear saints, we can be like those Pharisees. We can so miss the boat. They did not just miss by a few degrees; they missed the boat completely. They were off the scope. They were off the chart.
So absolutely did they miss the Lord that the Lord says, “If you had known.” Sometimes I wonder if we are not that absolute. Does our religion get in the way of knowing the nature of the Lord Jesus?
Do we have such zeal, not according to knowledge, that we are so absolute, so ready to condemn, and so quick to judge? Do we look at circumstances and say, “This is not right. These are not right”? And does the Lord have to whisper to us, “Learn what this means. If you had known what this means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice”?
Brothers and sisters, this may not sound like an important verse to you, but it is the heart of our Lord Jesus. These Pharisees missed the Lord completely. They did not see the Lord’s heart for the dying and sick. They did not see the Lord’s heart for those in need.
So the Lord had to remind them of David. He said, “What did David do? He went into the temple, which was not lawful for him, by the way, and he ate the showbread, which was only for the priests.”
Now, if you and I were like the Pharisees, we probably would have lined up, agreed, and condemned. But the Lord says, “No.” He is so conscious of our need. He loves us so much. He meets every need.
Brothers and sisters, that is the burden, I think, if the Lord can help me. I just have a few points, but may the Lord help us not to be like the Pharisees. Maybe we are more like the Pharisees than we realize. Maybe we are more absolute, not knowing the nature of our Lord. Maybe we are more critical. Maybe we are more judgmental. Just maybe think about it.
We may miss the boat—not by a degree, but by miles. That seems to me to be the rebuke given to these ones. May the Lord help us.
Now, I hope—and I do not know, because I do not know how time will go; I just know time is an enemy—but I know this: today, the only thing I want to share is this thought, “I will have mercy.” Then maybe, if we have another time, if it seems right, I would like to share this second thought: “Be merciful.”
Brothers and sisters, there are two things needed. If we do not see the mercy of God, we can never be merciful. But we are not just to see the mercy of God. We are to be so moved by the mercy of God, so infected by the mercy of God, so overcome by the mercy of God, that mercy translates from us, through us, to those with whom we are: our brothers and sisters, our family, and our friends.
That mercy of God is to get into us, become a part of us, and transform us, so that we, in fact, have mercy. We will share, maybe another time, on this verse: “Be ye merciful.” Maybe that will complete the picture.
There are three overall points that we would like to consider this morning.
First of all, if you are to understand what the Lord Jesus meant by “I will have mercy,” you need to see that mercy is the nature of God. You have got to see that. It is not just an attribute. It is not just something He does. It is who He is.
Now, that is a world of difference. That is where the Pharisees missed the boat. They had this relationship based on law, but they did not have this relationship based on mercy.
Secondly, mercy is the basis of our whole relationship with the Lord—our whole relationship. All of it can be summarized by mercy. I think, as we get into it, you will begin to understand what that means.
Thirdly, God, in His mercy, does not dribble out mercies to us—a little bit here and there, just enough to get through. He pours out on us, as He says in the Word, the riches of His mercy, the depths of His mercy.
What we need to understand, brothers and sisters, is not only that His nature is one of mercy, and not only that our whole relationship to Him is through mercy, but that He pours out on us the riches of His mercy.
Before we go there, we need to consider what mercy is. Have you ever thought about that word, mercy—what it is? It is translated almost always in the Old Testament as “lovingkindness.” Now, to me, that is a beautiful phrase.
Mercy is not the relationship of a judge to the condemned. Do you understand the difference? It is lovingkindness. It is not that God is some great judge—although He is Judge of all—always wanting to condemn us for all that we do wrong.
The whole idea of mercy, translated again and again in the Old Testament, is lovingkindness. All of His relationship to us is in love, and all of His acts toward us are in kindness. That is what mercy means.
Now, when you come into the New Testament, that word is translated differently: very often “mercy,” but also very often “compassion.” It has a deeper sense in the New Testament. It means that He sees us in such great need, and He provides all that we need out of His riches and resources.
That is what it means. It means He is a God of pity. That is where the word compassion comes from. It means that all of His relating to us is with pity, in mercy, through His great compassion.
And you know, if it were us, we would sometimes have pity, would we not? Even us, in our hardness, sometimes have compassion. But we do not have the capacity to bring people from such great need into the fullness that He is. That is the difference.
That is the New Testament thought. He has such compassion on the needy, and not only does He have such great compassion, He provides all the resources to fulfill every need and bring them into fullness. That is mercy.
We need to see that some people get two words confused: grace and mercy. I think it is easy to do. These are complementary words. They are not that distant; they are very much related.
If you read the apostolic salutations in Titus, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and 1 Peter, I think you begin to see these words: “Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” They are related.
Now, grace simply means favor. We have received, brothers and sisters, such favor from God. We do not get what we deserve. That is what that means. You have been brought into a place of sonship, a place of favor, a place where you are joint-heirs with Christ. That is grace.
It is our judgment, but He pours out upon you, as it says in Ephesians, the riches of His grace. Now, mercy means something slightly different: we get what we do not deserve.
He recognizes that we are in such great need that He pours out upon us His compassion. And in that pouring out of His compassion, He meets every need and provides everything we need to live. That is mercy.
I tell you what, I get a little irritated with people who say, “Oh, God does not meet needs. It is not needs. Why do you always talk about your needs?” Brothers and sisters, that is not the New Testament. Do you believe that?
“I have not come to call the healthy, but the sick—the ill.” Suppose the Lord had left them in their condition. Is that our thought? He does not meet our needs? Oh, how preposterous. That is against the thought of mercy.
Those who walked through that cornfield were in need. David, when he was hungry, went into the temple and ate the showbread because he was in need. The Lord did not condemn them for their need. He meets their needs.
Oh, we need to see that, brothers and sisters. I think that is mercy. Grace: we do not get what we deserve. Mercy: we get what we do not deserve.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, when you look at those salutations, I think there is a reason they are in the order they are. Again and again, the apostles wrote, “Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.”
First of all, He pours out His grace upon us and puts us in a favored position as sons and daughters. Secondly, He pours out His mercy upon us, and in the place where we are in absolute need and poverty, He meets that need.
Out of His fullness and riches of mercy, He brings us and conforms us to the image of the Lord Jesus. Then the result is peace.
Brothers and sisters, not a little peace, not some peace, not just enough peace to make you function and not totally cave in, but peace that passes understanding. So that is grace, mercy, and peace to you from our Lord Jesus.
Let us look first at mercy as the nature of God. The other day I read about a sign that said, “You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” And it was signed, “Sisters of Mercy.”
I thought that was an odd thing. But that is the way we think of God: “You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Signed, “Sisters of Mercy.” It is humorous, but for us as believers, I think it is sad.
Do we have this impression that God is against us? How often believers labor under the burden that God is always some divine judge, out to crush us in an instant at the first slip-up.
Can you imagine? I have this vision of God with a great flyswatter, waiting for you to mess up—whap! That is the way we think of Him. Do we misunderstand the nature of God?
Oh, I believe the Pharisees did. They were so absolute, they missed the very nature of God. It is the greatest tool of the enemy to convince us that God is against us, that you cannot come into His presence because you are unworthy.
Of course you are unworthy. You do not even need to go there. I have seen believers’ lives wrecked by this impression. Oh, saints, do you hear the Lord whispering, “I have mercy”?
Oh, I think our thinking needs to be changed. I believe that was a great problem with the Pharisees. Do you know—and you do know, but do you know?
Now, I hope that does not confuse you as much as it does me. But it did the Pharisees, because they knew, but they did not know. They were the possessors of the Word. They were the keepers of the Word. They knew Hosea 6:6.
They knew the law. They knew the first commandment, where it says that He is a God of mercy. They knew it, but they did not know it.
Do you know that God is for you? Do you know that? Do we really know that?
How many of us know the word in Romans 8:31?
If God is for us, who is against us?
He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,
how shall He not also with Him freely give us all things?
God is for us. This is His nature. He does not sit before us as Judge alone. He is Judge. He judges sin. He judges unrighteousness. He judges these things. But He is full of mercy in His very nature.
If you read 2 Corinthians 1:3, He is “the Father of mercies.” That is His name. May the Lord help us to have a different attitude. So often, the problem is that we have a misunderstanding of His nature.
It is like the wife who says to her husband, “Could you just cooperate and be helpful for a moment?” And the husband says, “Do not force me to do what is against my nature.”
But do we think that of our precious Lord? That we have to force Him to be merciful? That we have to provoke Him to be merciful? That we have to make Him be merciful? Oh, what a delusion.
That was the delusion the Pharisees had. And He said to them, “Learn what this means: I will have mercy.” And He says, “If you had known what this means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
Oh, we need to see that the nature of God is a nature of mercy.
I remember the story in Matthew 25. You may know it as well: the story of the talents. When the Lord told the parable, one man went into another country, and he left to each of his servants five talents. The first two took those talents and increased them.
But do you remember the reaction of the third one? It seems to be very telling, and very often, I believe, it is our reaction. In Matthew 25:24, this is what that third one said when the Lord came to him: “My Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man.”
Think of it. Is that kind of our impression of God? He is a hard man. I think that was a misunderstanding: “Reaping where thou didst not sow, and gathering where thou didst not scatter; and I was afraid.”
Now let me ask you this: is your relationship with the Lord based on fear? Is it? So often, believers’ relationship with the Lord is based on fear.
Now, there is a right fear of God. Proverbs makes it very clear: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” I do not mean that. That is respect and reverence. But some of us have the same impression as the one with the five talents: “You are a hard man.”
And out of fear, he buried his talent. Then he took the talent and said, “Here is what is yours. You have it back.” This one never appropriated the grace and mercy of God. He misunderstood. It was all based on a misunderstanding of the nature of God.
You may think I am belaboring these points, but this is the most critical point when it comes to understanding mercy: we need to see that the nature of God is mercy. You need to see that.
Sometimes, brothers and sisters, I think the world is more wise than we are. Cervantes said of the wise Athenians that they did not see mercy as an attribute of God, but as deity itself. Now, I hope you understand that. I do not mean for you to become an idol worshiper. But what they saw was that mercy was the nature of God.
Do we say that? Do you know that is who your God is, who our Lord Jesus is? The Pharisees missed it. They labored under a wrong impression. They missed it by miles. “I will have mercy.”
Psalm 62:12 says:
Also unto Thee, O Lord, belongeth lovingkindness.
That is one who understood the nature of God. Second Corinthians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies.” That is the nature of God.
Oh, we need to discover this nature of God if we are to understand His mercy. I believe there are those in the New Testament, in the stories the Lord Jesus gives us, who understood this.
You remember the story in Luke 18 of the sinner and the Pharisee. The Pharisee comes into the temple and begins to pray, saying, “Thank God, I am not like this guy, this wretch, this sinner. I am a pretty good guy after all.”
That was the Pharisee. And the sinner could not even lift up his head. He simply uttered these few words: “O Lord, have mercy upon me, the sinner.”
That is understanding the nature of God. That is one who saw what He was like, appropriated it, and entered into the good of it. The Lord Jesus said, “Which one of these went away justified?” He discovered the nature of God and entered into it.
There is another story. You remember the two blind men in Matthew. When the crowd was coming, these two blind men said to the Lord, “Son of David, Son of David, have mercy on us.” That was their cry.
It says in that section in Matthew that the Lord was moved with compassion—moved with mercy—and He healed their sight. From that day, they followed Him. Oh, they understood His nature.
Brothers and sisters, I think this is a very big issue: “Learn what this means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” We need to know mercy is His nature, but secondly, we do not just need to know mercy as His nature. We need to know mercy as the basis of our whole relationship with the Lord.
Now, you may think that is a stretch, but if you carefully read the Word, both Old Testament and New Testament, you begin to discover this recurring theme of lovingkindness. In the Old Testament, over and over: “Thy lovingkindness endureth forever.”
The nature of our relationship is based on mercy—the whole relationship. You remember when the Lord gave the Ten Commandments, when He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt to Mount Sinai and gave Moses the commandments.
In Exodus 20:2-6, He says:
For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and the fourth generation of them that hate Me;
and showing lovingkindness to thousands of them that love Me and keep My commandments.
We remember the judgment part. But please understand: this was the point—showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Him and keep His commandments. This is the nature of our relationship.
You remember when the Lord gave the pattern of the tabernacle to Moses. In the very heart of the tabernacle, at the ark of God, what rested on the top of the ark of the covenant? Do you know? It was the mercy seat.
Now, do you think that is an accident? It could have been a flame of fire. It could have been a sword. It could have been anything. But God, in His nature and in His relationship with us, had the very place where He met and communed with them as this mercy seat.
Oh, saints, that speaks volumes to me. You have already gone past the brazen altar. You have already come into that holy place. And when you come into that place where God is, what do you see above it all? Mercy.
To me, that speaks volumes. Our whole relationship is one of mercy.
Listen to this in Exodus 25:22. When it was explained about the mercy seat, first of all it says, “Thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold.” Then it says:
And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony.
That is the nature of our relationship. This is what the Pharisees missed.
Maybe I can explain it a different way. Our relationship is not based on justice; it is based on mercy. Now, if you do not know that as a believer, you will labor under the worst kind of bondage.
Your relationship to the living God is not based on justice. If you forget everything else we say this morning, remember that: it is based on mercy.
One of the best explanations I heard was when Charles Haddon Spurgeon told the story of a French woman who came to Emperor Napoleon. She said, “Sir, would you have mercy on my son?”
The emperor looked at her and said, “Madam, this is the second time he has broken French law. Your son deserves judgment and death.” That was the emperor’s word.
This woman was very wise. She said, “Sir, I did not approach you based on justice. I came asking for mercy.”
Do you understand the difference? The great emperor said to her, “But he does not deserve mercy.” You do not get it.
This broken-hearted mother said, “If he deserved mercy, it would not be mercy.” She melted the cold-hearted—excuse me, French—egotistical heart of Napoleon even.
And he said to her the same words as the Savior: “I will have mercy.” You understand that? Your relationship with God—too often, we base our relationship with the living God on justice.
Let me tell you this. This may be a rude awakening for you, but if your relationship were based on justice, you would have been long gone. You would have been one of those snuffed out like a candle.
Because, I do not know if you understand this: justice condemns us; mercy sees our need and meets our needs. That is the difference.
Oh, this woman was so wise. I think she even could touch the heart of Napoleon. And his words were, “I will have mercy.”
“Learn what this means: I will have mercy.” You know, that is the whole of our relationship.
There is a story, all of you Civil War buffs, about Bull Run—or Manassas. I think if you are from the North it is Manassas, and if you are from the South it is Bull Run. Jim, you can straighten me out. Is that right? No? A Californian correcting me on Civil War history.
But anyway, in this great battle, this bloody great battle, one of the men was shot and wounded. He fell to the ground, and the cry that came out of his lips was, “Oh, Lord, have mercy upon my soul.”
That struck a chord. Then, as others in this bloody battle were wounded and shot, there began to be a repetition of this cry among the men. Everyone who fell in this area said, “Lord, have mercy upon my soul.”
Pretty soon, it became a chorus. Irreligious men’s lives were changed forever, and they marked that day when the God of mercy met them in their infinite need. Do you understand? “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
Well, I hope you understand. It is mercy in our relationship. There is one thing—we do not have time, but turn with me to Psalm 136. Maybe this will help.
I will give you a homework assignment, since I have already made a fool of myself before the history teacher. Go home and read Psalm 136. This is a remarkable psalm. It establishes the whole relationship of man to God and the whole history of the children of Israel.
Listen to this. We will just read a few verses, since time is gone:
O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good;
for His lovingkindness endureth for ever.
O give thanks unto the God of gods;
for His lovingkindness endureth for ever.
O give thanks unto the Lord of lords;
for His lovingkindness endureth for ever.
To Him who alone doeth great wonders;
for His lovingkindness endureth for ever.
He seems to be stuck. The record is stuck. Go to the last verse:
O give thanks unto the God of heaven;
for His lovingkindness endureth for ever.
There is a pattern here. This psalmist so appreciated that the whole relationship of the children of Israel was based on mercy that after every praise he declared, “His mercy endureth forever.”
It is even held that this may have been, and probably was, given by David, and that the Levites were supposed to sing this psalm every day. Now, brothers and sisters, there is a lesson for us there. You are a priest; I am a priest. Should not our song be every day, “Your mercy endureth forever”?
In Solomon’s temple, this was the song they sang every day. The army of Jehoshaphat, when it went into battle and put the singers out front—a foolish thing to do by anybody’s standards but God’s—sang, “For Your mercy endureth forever.”
And God moved in a mighty way. The enemies turned on themselves and destroyed themselves. This is our song. This is the nature of our relationship.
And one last point: mercy is not poured out on us in increments, almost microscopic. Mercy from God is poured out on us in riches. You need to understand that, saints, because otherwise you will always be saying, “Lord, give me just a little bit of mercy to get through this moment.”
Do you know that He pours out on you the depths of His mercy—the riches of His mercy? Let me put it another way: when it comes to mercy, God is not a miser.
That is the best way I know how to put it. When it comes to mercy, God is not a miser. You read some incredible verses. I will just refer to them. More homework: Titus 3:4.
When you get home, read it. It says, “But according to His own mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” and catch this part of the phrase: “Which He poured out upon us richly.”
That is the thought: not sparingly. He did not dole out just a little bit, but richly.
There are more verses, if you need proof. First Peter 1:3 says:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy begat us again unto a living hope.
Do you understand the emphasis? The Holy Spirit is trying to send us a message. Psalm 57:10 says, “For Thy lovingkindness is great unto the heavens.” Great. You cannot measure it. It is unsearchable in its depths, unsearchable in its breadth, and unsearchable in its height.
He lavishes upon us His mercy. Ephesians 2:4 says, “But God, being rich in mercy.” That is the point. That is the point the Pharisees missed.
Oh, the depths of His mercy. You know, Job, at the end, came to this realization. Stephen said at the conference that Job suffered like no man we know.
I do not want to offend anyone here, but when you always say, “Oh, I am like Job”—have mercy. His whole family, all that he owned, his health: taken away.
At the end of it, James 5:11 tells what he learned:
Behold, we call them blessed that endured: ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord, how that the Lord is full of pity, and merciful.
That is where he came to. That is what he saw. He has pity on us, full of compassion and pitiful. Now, Linda is making a face at me. I do not mean the Lord is pitiful. She does not like my translation, I can tell. The Lord is pitiful in mercy.
Do you understand? Learn what this means. Know what this means.
The depths of mercy cannot be calculated by any measure that we know. I tell you, most of what I do is calculate. Engineers are the nerdiest profession in the world. All we do is calculate. We love to measure.
It can be miles or furlongs or acres or kilopascals. I still have not figured out the pascals altogether, Terry; you can help me afterward. Or it can be kilometers, kilonewtons, coulombs—whatever. We just need to measure it.
But you try to measure God’s mercy. Put a tape on it. I do not care if you have one of those thousand-foot tapes; you will run out. Try to measure the height of it. I do not care how far you go in the heavens; you will never get to the end of it.
Try to go to the depth of it. It does not matter how far you go; you will never measure it, because He is rich in mercy. This is the point. Oh, the depth of His mercy.
Brothers and sisters, the depths of His mercy are incredible. Every one of us knows Charles Wesley. I think all of you know that Charles Wesley was probably one of the greatest hymn writers in church history.
There are attributed to him—and I think I am right about this—more than 6,500 hymns. Can you imagine? We sang some of his hymns today. They are of such depth and wealth.
But he wrote a particular hymn called “Depth of Mercy.” I believe the timing of that hymn must have been very important. Charles and John came to the United States with a commission from the church to bring salvation and evangelize the Indians, and they were utter and miserable failures.
When they went back, Charles was in this little meeting with Moravians. He was so overwhelmed by the mercy of God. In 1738 they went back; in 1740, this hymn appeared in a hymnal. I wonder what he discovered that made the difference.
Oh, the depth of His mercy. It was formerly called “A Relapse After a Relapse from Sin,” and it was thirteen stanzas. It is not like Ben Hebert gets us to sing, you know—thirteen stanzas.
But then I believe he saw something. I believe it changed his life. It became “Depth of Mercy,” four stanzas. He learned what it means.
There was an actress, a great actress in England, who heard a small company of common believers singing “Depth of Mercy.” It so captured her heart. She went in, this actress, and sang this song with them.
She memorized the verses. She read the verses over and over and over again until they dawned into her soul. And she met the Lord of mercy.
After that, she became convicted about being an actress. Well, we are not convicted about much anymore. But she was convicted about being an actress, and they prevailed upon this famous actress. They said, “You have to do just one more play.”
She consented, thinking that would be okay. They told her, “You will begin with a song in the play.” This lady went out onto that stage, moved by the Holy Spirit, forgot what she was supposed to sing, lifted up her eyes to the heavens, and raised her hands to the heavens.
This is in the play people paid good money for. She sang with all of her being:
Depth of mercy! can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear,
Me, the chief of sinners, spare?
The whole theater was in hushed silence. This is the question: do you know the depths of His mercy? I think we need no sprinklings. Do we know the depths of His mercy? It will make a difference.
Not only that, when you read in Lamentations 3—the weeping prophet Jeremiah—I think you all know this. We have sung the song. Lamentations 3:21-23 says that mercies are new every morning.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.
It is of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.
Brothers and sisters, when you wake up in the morning, mercy is there to greet you. What did you do? Still fresh on it. Not some stale manna, spoiled, held over from long ago, but in the morning, when you rise and meet the Savior: mercy, fresh every morning.
If that were not enough, you remember the psalmist David, probably his most famous psalm, Psalm 23. You probably memorized it as a child. But what did he say in closing, in Psalm 23:6?
Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
This was his testimony. Not only are you to know the mercies that are new every morning, the mercies that are infinite in depth and riches, but mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
That seems to me to give some sense of the breadth of His mercy. May the Lord help us.
Learn what this means: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” Learn, know what this means: “I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”
Until that dawns on us, we can never be merciful. It does have a two-part meaning. But until we see the mercy of God, we can never be merciful.
It is His name. It is the basis of our relationship. He pours out on us the depth and riches of His mercy. They are new every morning, and they will follow us all the days of our life.
Shall we pray?
Lord, we ask You to teach us what this means. We do not want to be like the Pharisees and miss the boat. You are a God of mercy.
Open our eyes that we may see Jesus in a fresh way as the God of mercy. Lord, open our eyes that we may see You as—this is Your very nature.
Lord, open our eyes that we may see this as the basis of our relationship. And, O Lord, would You open our eyes to see the depth of Your mercy.
If we do, we will be forever changed. In Jesus’ name. Amen.