God, Be Merciful to Me

By Dennis Stackhouse

If you had, at this very moment, the choice between receiving justice or mercy in your life, which one would you choose? Your initial reaction, without thinking too deeply, may be that of choosing justice, and that makes perfect sense. After all, we live in a country that prides itself on dispensing justice to its citizens. And those efforts should be applauded because they benefit all of us. Justice for all is one of the basic fundamentals America was founded upon.Certainly, in order to accurately answer the initial question, you would want to know the circumstances. For instance, are we speaking about justice in a legal sense, justice among coworkers, justice between friends or family, or something more profound? It might help if we kept a simple definition in mind of justice and mercy. Think about the fact that justice would be receiving only what you do deserve; whereas, mercy is receiving what you do not deserve. Does that help?If we were viewing nothing but the physical world, justice is a good thing, but mercy could be better. To illustrate that, let's say you are shopping for a gift and you pick up an item that you accidentally drop. The item breaks, and you realize that you need to take it to the checkout counter to pay for it. In that situation, would you want the clerk to charge you for the item, or would you rather hear the clerk say, "Don't worry about it. You don't have to pay anything?" In short, would you prefer justice, which means you pay for the item, or mercy, which means you pay nothing for the broken item? Do you want what you deserve or what you don't deserve?Of course, the real question is: When you stand before God in judgment, do you want to receive only what you deserve, which would be justice, or do you want God to extend what you don't deserve, which would be mercy? That's what we want to explore throughout this study together.I pray that by the time we conclude our thoughts, we will all come to the point of saying: "God, be merciful to me."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098048082

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God, Be Merciful to Me

Dennis Stackhouse

Copyright © 2020 by Dennis Stackhouse

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

A God of Mercy

Seeking Praise from Men or from God?

Two Men Went Up to Pray

The Pharisee

Thoughts on Judging

The Tax Collector

The Pharisee’s Prayer

The Tax Collector’s Prayer

The Value of Prayer

Only Two Possibilities Exist

Do Not Underestimate Sin

Hearing the Gospel Is Essential

Faith Is Foundational

Repentance and Confession

Baptism

Introduction

Have you ever had the occasion to be in a courtroom? I know that for many people reading these words, you would answer in the affirmative; you have been in a courtroom in the past, and I’m certain there are also those who have done so on multiple occasions. If you are among the number who have been in a courtroom, it may seem odd to hear that there are still people in our society who have not. But that’s true. Not everyone has experienced what it’s like to actually walk inside a courtroom, to see the sights or feel the emotions of someone who may be the focus of a legal proceeding. Therefore, let’s begin our introductory remarks on justice and mercy by exploring this from a few different perspectives.

First of all, if you are one who has been in a courtroom, what were your impressions when you initially walked in? Depending upon where this occurred and the level of the court, it may have been anything from a fairly simple room to a large, elaborately constructed facility. Do you recall seeing decorative wooden columns with rich wood paneling adorning the walls? Do you remember the judge’s bench, the rows of seating, perhaps even a jury’s box? Or was it more common in appearance, not that different from what we see on a day-to-day basis? Then, can you remember what you felt on an emotional level when you walked in? Did it seem somewhat intimidating when you realized that the future of many people had been determined in that very room, that there had possibly been citizens sentenced to prison or granted their freedom right there? One thing is certain; although television may not portray it for us that way, not all courtrooms appear the same once you’re inside.

Let’s take this a step further. Instead of thinking about just walking into a courtroom, perhaps on a casual level, how does this change if you are actually involved in a court case? What if you are inside a courtroom to observe the proceedings that take place against a friend or a relative? Does that change how you feel walking into this situation? What if you are inside a courtroom because a suit has been filed against you personally, perhaps for building a fence on your neighbor’s property, even though you didn’t realize you had gone beyond your boundary? We all know that those things can certainly happen. Does that change how you feel walking into this setting? When it’s personal, it does make a difference, doesn’t it? Let’s take just a few moments to explore a personal scenario as we think about the contrast that exists between justice and mercy.

Justice or Mercy?

Without thinking too deeply, if you were given the choice between receiving justice or mercy for any given circumstance, which one would you choose? Again, without overthinking it, many of us would probably opt for justice. And that makes perfect sense, because we live in a country where justice is an extremely important part of our very fabric; it’s who we are as American citizens.

The entire legal system of our country, when it’s working as it should, seeks to bring justice to all people. And we should be applauding those efforts because it does work to the benefit of us all. Justice for each person is one of the basic fundamentals this country was founded on. Would you have been one that chose justice over mercy given that choice? Or perhaps, we should also ask, do you see a real difference between justice and mercy? Would one choice be better than the other, or are they pretty much synonymous? Does not the concept of justice also include mercy?

Before you make up your mind on this question, it would be prudent to think about justice as opposed to mercy just a bit more. Let’s begin with the technical definition of justice: The maintenance or administration of what is just, especially by the impartial adjustment of conflicting claims or the assignment of merited rewards or punishments. Now, let’s add the technical definition of mercy: Compassion or forbearance shown, especially to an offender or to one subject to another’s power; lenient or compassionate treatment. Those definitions are well and good, and they do give us the technical aspects of these concepts. But isn’t there a way to put this into simpler terms? Yes, there is. Think about justice, merited rewards or punishments, as getting what you do deserve; whereas, mercy, lenient or compassionate treatment, would be getting what you do not deserve. Doesn’t that make it more understandable? Justice gives us what we do deserve while mercy gives us what we do not deserve. Let’s try to illustrate this and take it into the arena of some practical applications.

For the sake of our illustration, we will assume that you are driving to work on any given day, taking the same route that you do on a daily basis. While driving, your mind starts to wander as you think about a task you need to complete, one that will be a first priority when you arrive at work. As you mentally prepare for this initial order of business, you glance down at your speedometer and see that you are driving forty-two miles per hour. The posted speed limit is thirty-five miles per hour. Suddenly, you see the red flashing lights of a police car in your rearview mirror. The officer pulls you over and, after taking your license and registration, informs you that you were exceeding the speed limit.

Let me ask you: In this case, do you want justice or mercy? If you receive justice, getting what you do deserve, you will be handed a speeding ticket with a fine to pay; if you receive mercy, the officer will let you go with a warning to watch your speed more closely and you will have no fine to pay. That’s a pretty simple choice, isn’t it?

Let’s now take the illustration to another level. You are driving to work on any given day, taking the same route that you do on a daily basis. While driving through a residential area, keeping your speed at the posted limit, your cell phone begins to ring. Naturally, your first instinct is to answer, so you do. In that split second, when you reached down to pick up your phone or activate the talk button on your vehicle, you fail to see another vehicle backing out of a driveway directly in front of you. By the time you notice the other driver, it’s too late. You brake hard, but you cannot avoid hitting the other car. Your momentary lack of attention caused the accident.

Obviously, there is damage done to both vehicles, but fortunately, no one is hurt physically. When the accident scene has been investigated, you are deemed to be the responsible party. We need to add that it was certainly not your intent to collide with that vehicle; in fact, it was the last thing you would have desired. In this case, do you want justice or mercy? If you receive justice, you will be paying a fine, likely see your insurance rates go up, and, possibly, lose your driver’s license for a period of time, depending upon your driving record. If you receive mercy, the fine could be minimized, your insurance rates would stay the same, and you keep your driver’s license. Again, it’s not too difficult to make that choice.

One more illustration would be appropriate before we leave this train of thought. You are driving to work on any given day, taking the same route that you do on a daily basis. As you drive through a residential area, you are keeping your speed at the posted limit. For several consecutive days, you have noticed that one of the homes on a particular block is being remodeled, so as you pass that home, you look over to see what progress has been made. Suddenly, while your sight was briefly diverted from the road, a child runs out into the street from behind a parked car. You see the child, brake, and swerve to miss him, but you cannot. The child is rushed to the hospital, and, fortunately, will survive the accident without any major problems.

Was it your desire to injure a child in this way? Absolutely not! In fact, there are not enough apologies you can offer that would ease your guilty conscience. Ultimately, following the investigation, responsibility is assigned to you. In this case, do you want justice or mercy? If you receive justice, there will undoubtedly be a substantial fine to pay, greatly increased insurance rates, a temporary loss of your driver’s license, and a possible lawsuit to contend with. If you receive mercy, the fine could be minimized, your insurance rates will remain the same, you keep your driver’s license, and the family of the injured child will not bring a suit against you. In any of these scenarios, would you prefer justice, what you do deserve, or mercy, what you do not deserve?

In case you may be wondering by now, there is a reason I wanted to introduce our thoughts in this book as I have. It seems safe to say that none of us would have the desire to be involved in any of the scenarios I just posed; if given the choice, we would prefer to avoid them altogether. But even with that being the case, each of us realize that these things happen in this physical life. Drivers get distracted and exceed the speed limit; vehicles will collide on occasion when one of the drivers is not paying attention; unfortunately, people will be injured and even killed after being struck by a vehicle. And in the vast majority of cases, there is absolutely no malice or wrongful intent involved. These are accidents, events that can happen simply because people are not giving full attention to what’s around them. We also realize that such occurrences can have devastating effects in a person’s life. Can you imagine trying to live with the memory of hitting a child while driving your vehicle, not to mention the legal proceedings that may come about in conjunction with the accident? In a situation like that, if we had the power to do so, we wouldn’t hesitate even a moment to go back in time and change everything.

Physical or Spiritual?

With that brief reflection, perhaps it would be good to ask once again: If you had the choice in any given situation, would you prefer justice or mercy? It should be easy to see that mercy would be the choice most of us would pick. We understand that there can be consequences arising from our physical actions, some of them possibly being quite severe. If we could avoid those physical consequences by receiving mercy, wouldn’t we choose to do so? Again, it doesn’t seem that we would hesitate at all if such an option were available to us. And do be aware, everything we have discussed thus far involves the physical realm, which makes perfect sense. This is the arena in which we live, the existence we are familiar with, the flesh and blood portion of life that we can see and touch and hear and experience. In short, it’s what we know. And because the physical world is what we are so familiar with, it should make the concept of mercy as opposed to justice even more powerful.

However, as important as the physical world is to us, and I would not deny for a moment that it is important, what about the spiritual realm? How much importance do you place on spiritual matters? Does your spiritual life hold top priority? If not, it really should. Why is that? Because your spiritual life will be without end; it is eternal in nature.

On one occasion, a man came to Jesus and asked Him this question: Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life? in Matthew 19:16. The focus here should be on the word eternal. If we go to the dictionary, we find that eternal means: Having infinite duration; everlasting; characterized by abiding fellowship with God. I want to quickly point out that the dictionary is being quite generous with this definition that indicates an abiding fellowship with God. Not all people will experience that; in fact, an eternity in hell will be the fate of those who disobey the heavenly Father. This is something we will discuss further as we move through our study. But for now, let’s return to our point about the difference between the physical and spiritual worlds. Since the physical world is temporary and will come to an end for all of us, and since the spiritual world is everlasting, never coming to an end, which should we consider to be more important? Once more, it seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? Just a few quick examples of this may help.

You may remember the great judgment scene recorded in Matthew 25:31–46. In this passage, Jesus is depicted as separating the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous. Concluding His pronouncement in Matthew 25:46, our Lord said this: These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Think about never-ending punishment, the sentence passed upon the unrighteous, as opposed to never-ending life, the reward for the righteous.

Speaking about those who make a commitment to Him, Jesus said the following in Luke 18:29–30: Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life. A focus on the spiritual side of life, making that decision to follow God His way, results in eternal, never-ending life.

We also read in 1 John 2:25: This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life. Addressing Christians, those who have chosen to live for God, John assures us that the promise extended by God and Christ is eternal life. How important is it for us to focus our attention on the spiritual matters? It is of infinite, everlasting, never-ending importance.

So how does all of this relate to justice and mercy? Let’s try to keep it as simple as possible. Would you prefer to spend your eternity by receiving only what you do deserve, which is justice, or would you prefer to spend your eternity enjoying the good things you do not deserve, which is mercy? On that final Day of Judgement, would you prefer to have God say: Because of your sin, I can only give you a home in hell; it is what you deserve to receive. Or would you rather hear the heavenly Father say, I know you don’t deserve the blessings of heaven, but because of My mercy, I’m giving them to you anyway? And remember, either the justice or the mercy will last throughout eternity. I cannot answer for anyone else, but the mercy sounds