Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Psalm 100:5 - "Mercy and Truth"


"Mercy and Truth"     

Psalm 100 - Part 5     
    
   
   "For the Lord is good.  His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endureth to all generations" (Psalm 100:5).

   The Bible proclaims God's goodness in many ways.  In Psalm 100, David speaks of our Lord's character in terms of everlasting mercy and enduring truth.  The former references God's redemptive working whereby "He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:10).  The latter concerns the standard of our Lord's character and word: "God is faithful" and "He cannot lie" declared the Apostle Paul" (I Corinthians 1:9; Titus 1:2).  The Psalmist unites mercy and truth in the 100th Psalm.  A careful consideration of both qualities of Divine goodness provides the reason.

   We need mercy because truth exists, and none of us have lived up to the standard.  We require truth because God offers mercy, but only in a manner that does not violate the integrity and standard of His being.  This seems to present a moral dilemma.  How can we find a mercy than does not conflict with truth?  The answer, of course, involves the Lord Jesus Christ.  In Him, "mercy and truth are met together" (Psalm 85:10).  In Him, God is both "just and the justifier of Him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).

    "Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love." (II John 1:3).

   In Christ, mercy becomes available because of His redeeming work "in truth and love."  The Lord Jesus paid our debt of truth disbelieved and disobeyed by sacrificing Himself as the atonement for our sins.  Somebody had to die because the Truth was disregarded.  Somebody did die, and mercy flowed from the wounds of Christ as He fulfilled the truth and promises of God.  The Christ of truth thus became the Christ of mercy to all who believe.  God's moral fidelity and merciful forgiveness unite in the Lord Jesus, thus making possible salvation from our sins, and deliverance unto a growing experience and practice of Truth.  Only in Christ is this possible, and in believers becomes actual as we look to the One in whom "mercy and truth are met together."

"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man."
(Proverbs 3:3-4)
"By mercy and truth, iniquity is purged."
(Proverbs 16:6)

Weekly Memory Verse
   For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
(John 1:17).
   
   

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