Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [107] Blessed are the Merciful

Today's Guest Devotional is written by Mike Loveridge, assistant Pastor of Manor Park Church

Sermon on the Mount (6)

Blessed are the Merciful

Today we look at the first of the four beatitudes that speak directly to the way in which we treat others. These next four all flow out of having the right attitude towards God, one of being poor in spirit, mournful of our sin, meek in our approach to God and hungering and thirsting after righteousness. To see what each of those things look like go back to the previous devotions on the Sermon on the Mount. A right relationship must first be established with God before we can begin to rightly conduct ourselves towards other people. As we remember that the Beatitudes lay out what a true disciple of Christ will look like, the fact that Jesus includes these four concerning our attitude towards others shows that God cares about our actions as well as our attitudes.

The verse for today’s Beatitude is Matthew 5:7 and it says:

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

What is mercy?

Mercy is often confused with grace and yet they are quite different. Grace is the unmerited favour of God that deals with our sin and provides salvation. Mercy is compassion or love shown towards those who are in pain, anguish or distress and when shown by God relieves the consequences of sin. So, grace is given in a merciful way. A merciful person when wronged is quick and happy to extend forgiveness to those who ask for it. The merciful person does not seek revenge or to inflict suffering but rather to prevent and relieve the suffering and guilt of those who have wronged them.

This kind of mercy is not a natural tendency. We know that there are those who by their natural disposition tend to be kinder, more affectionate, gentler than others. These people are more likely to display mercy, but the mercy Jesus is calling for comes as a result of the grace and mercy extended to us through Jesus. Jesus is not merely looking for those who are naturally merciful in their approach but for all believers having experienced the redeeming grace and mercy of God to display mercy to others. How, when we know the mercy shown to us by a perfect God, can we withhold mercy from those who wrong us? As we display mercy it should always point to Jesus and glorify him, not us.

Amongst those who do not follow Christ, mercy is often not a sought-after virtue. We see in the world around us hatred and the desire for revenge when wronged not a desire to show merciful grace. Mercy is considered as weakness by the world because they do not understand their own need of mercy from God. Mercy is not weakness. Mercy does not just let people get away scot free with whatever they want. That is not how God treats us. God hates sin and never just lets us get away with it because of his mercy. If that was the case, then there never would have been need for Jesus to die. God has a moral law to which we are called to live by and when we disregard and break that law, punishment and discipline are necessary. But God is merciful in the way he treats us. God is exceedingly merciful but that never causes him to overlook or condone sin. God is merciful, tender hearted, compassionate, and slow to anger but he is also righteous, holy and just. Likewise, we need to act in the same manner. When someone wrongs us and seeks forgiveness, we treat them in a merciful manner whilst still also dealing with the wrongdoing. But, a word of warning! As we display this mercy to people we need to remember that it is not earning us our salvation or merit with God but is a response to the salvation we have received from Him. 

Examples of mercy

Joseph is a great Old Testament example of mercy being displayed. Joseph was wronged by his brothers in a way many of us will never fully understand. They sold him into slavery and lied to his father about him. But what happens when he sees them again? He displays mercy towards them, forgives them and provides for them.

The parable of the good Samaritan is also a great place to see mercy in action. The good Samaritan showed mercy to the man he met along the road. Although the man had not specifically wronged him as two different people groups they had tension and the Jew would have despised the Samaritan. But what does the Samaritan do in seeing the need of the Jew? He displays mercy to a man he so easily could have walked past and is compassionate, loving and provides for the near-dead Jew.

Yet the greatest example of mercy in action is Jesus. When Jesus met the sick, lame, diseased, outcasts he had compassion on them and healed them. He had mercy on the demon possessed. When Jesus saw suffering, he acted to relieve it. At the cross, having been beaten, mocked, and shamed he calls out to his Father and ask from compassion to be shown to his accusers. The greatest act of mercy is shown in the cross. Christ had pity on you and me. He saw our pain and anguish as a result of our sin and died in our place to forgive us.

Who are we called to show mercy to?

As Jesus showed mercy to all who were suffering, so should we. Where we see pain, anguish and suffering we should be moved to compassion and show mercy to those suffering. We should display mercy to everyone, whether a fellow Christian or an enemy.

I think the greatest mercy we can show to the unbelieving world is to call them to repentance. They are unaware of the pit they are in and they need the same Saviour we did before we put our trust in Jesus. Will you show mercy to those you know who don’t yet know Jesus by sharing the gospel with them?

Prayer for today

Our loving Heavenly Father,

We thank you for your amazing grace and mercy that you have shown towards us. Thank you for the cross through which you displayed your mercy to sinners like me. We ask that you increase our knowledge of your grace and mercy in our lives and that as a response we will show mercy to those around us.

We ask that you give us the grace to forgive those who have wronged us. May we be people who display your love, grace and mercy to the world around us.

In Jesus name we pray

Amen

Photo by Ashim D’Silva on unsplash