Christian Living
I was driving down a close in my estate one morning, when I heard in my spirit.. ‘you need to learn about mercy and compassion’. That came to me as a shock because I thought I knew about mercy and compassion enough ?, and really there was no particular incident at the time where I needed to deploy mercy and compassion. So I just thought about it a bit more, then forgot about it.
About 2 weeks later, I was driving down the same bend on another morning when I heard again; ‘I’ll teach you about mercy and compassion‘. This time I gave a verbal response like; ‘it’s alright Lord…. welcoming the idea….and again I let it go….
A few weeks from this time, a young man contacted me seeking help to fix his grounded car. The car which he uses as taxi, was his primary source of livelihood at the time. To tell you the truth, this young man is not one of the persons I’d go out of my way to help. I wasn’t particularly close to him but from far, he portrayed rudeness, disrespect, arrogance and pride (gave him this feedback afterwards). And to make matters worse, the Lord was leading me to handle his case as the Good Samaritan handled the man who was beaten up by thieves on his way to Jerusalem from Jericho….to pick up the car, fix it up completely before returning it to him.
I am glad that I listened to the voice within me because irrespective of how this young man may seem to me or anyone else, he needed a Good Samaritan intervention. It was only after I delivered on the task of helping him sort out his car issue that the Lord led me to start writing this article on mercy and compassion, scheduled several weeks back for publishing today….
Lamentations 3:22-23 says…
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
In the above scripture, the writer mentions 3 intrinsic attributes of God; mercy, compassion and faithfulness.
Mercy; is God showing kindness to man by withholding a merited/deserved judgement.
Mercy speaks of pardon. Mercy means forgiveness for wrongs. Mercy means relenting from doing harm even when it’s been earned. Mercy means doing good to someone who is deserving of punishment.
So according to Lamentations 3:22-23, but for the Lord’s mercies, we would receive the judgement and punishment for our sins, wrongdoings, poor choices and decisions.
Oh! but His compassions fail not, so we are not consumed.
Compassion is actually a tender expression of 2 attributes of God; love and mercy (kindness). So God’s compassion is His lovingkindness…a combination of His love and kindness.
God’s Faithfulness speaks of His steadfastness, stability, steadiness, and by inference His reliability.
So actually God’s mercies and compassions convey His love and kindness. Mercy takes care of the charges and guilt so His lovingkindness can flow.
The mercies of God are new every morning; fresh mercies are made available for every new day. God is RICH in mercy (Ephesians 2:4)
The way I like to think about God’s mercy is this; before the break of a new day, the day’s mercy is already made available…..a fresh dose of mercy waiting on you every new day. Halleluyah!
God is committed to delivering mercy and compassion to you every day. Halleluyah!!
So if I want to write Lamentations 3:22-23 in my understanding it would read something like this:
“…the Lord’s faithfulness as regards His mercy and compassions is GREAT.’
God is greatly committed to giving out His love and kindness. They never fail, they never cease. As surely as there is dawn, His mercies and compassion never cease. His mercies and compassions move together and they move towards me and they move towards you every day.
You know what else adds to the category of things about the Lord towards man that will never cease or fail? His Goodness!
In Psalm 23:6, the Psalmist carefully puts mercy and goodness together as things that follow him on a daily basis….
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”
Psalms 23:6 NKJV
What a revelation the Psalmist had! You say how so? Because every time God sends out mercies and compassions, His goodness naturally follows…
Whenever His mercy and compassion meet, His goodness flows.
The resultant effect of the mercies and compassions of God is His goodness. When His mercies and compassions meet, His Goodness is inevitable. Halleluyah! So if His mercies and compassions follow me everyday, if they fail not, if God is steadfast, committed at sending mercies and compassions towards man, surely, goodness must be an everyday experience with God too.
What is the goodness of God?
The Goodness of God is the innately good nature of God, just the way God is; He is good.
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”
I Chronicles 16:34 NKJV
The Lord is good, His mercies endures forever.
Now, let’s see what the goodness of God looks like….
1. Acts 10:38…..
“how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.“
Acts 10:38 NKJV
Here we see the goodness of God as healing and deliverance.
2. Luke 10:30-35…
“Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’
Luke 10:30-35 NKJV
Wow!!! ….I love this package of goodness….
Here we see His goodness expressed as; care, restoration, provision.
3. Mark 1:40-42…
“Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed.
Mark 1:40-42 NKJV
Again we see goodness expressed as healing.
This is what the goodness of God is about….doing good as needed; keeping us in health, in strength and in wealth.
His goodness never fails, they are new every morning and they await me every single day of my life. A fresh bundle of goodness has been released on from the open Heavens upon you today because His mercies and compassions are sure. Halleluyah!
The Psalmist says it is surely, surely, surely, …… and I declare that SURELY mercy, compassions and goodness follow me every day.
Surely, healing is here for me today, surely provision is available for me today, restoration is available for me today, direction and wisdom are available for me today, my Father’s goodness is here for me today. SURELY.
And He ensures that we are satisfied with His goodness everyday. Halleluyah!!!
“Bless the Lord O my soul…..Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with good things…”
Thank You my Father.
