We live in a merciless society.

That’s never been more evident in our world today. That’s not to say that we should excuse wrongdoing, but it’s pretty fair to assert that our lives and personal interactions could use a healthier dose of mercy (and grace). A little less than a year ago, I heard Mercy somewhere (probably Pandora), and since then, I’ve been listening to and pondering the words almost non-stop. Maybe the unusual tune drew me in at first, but what really made me stop and listen was the utter truth and power behind the words. The truth that the Lord’s been impressing on my heart through this song keeps resonating within me each day as heart-wrenching events around the world unfold without signs of stopping. I truly hope and pray that sharing all that God’s been showing me about His character, who He is as a merciful Father, and how to both graciously receive His mercy and show His mercy to others blesses you as much as it has blessed me.

My past embraced, my sin forgiven
I’m blameless in Your sight, my history rewritten

I could repeat this first part of the song over and over and over (and I have!). These four phrases overwhelm me in the best way. For starters, how awesome is it that God embraces our pasts? It seems like the simplest thing, but He doesn’t just accept them, He embraces them. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, embrace means “to accept something willingly and enthusiastically.” When we come to life in Christ, He embraces it all – our pasts, presents, and futures. It’s not begrudgingly, or out of obligation; He’s enthusiastic about us becoming His! He joyfully accepts our pasts as part of our journeys of growth, rather than disregarding them as something shameful to sweep under the rug. That action of lovingly embracing all that I am blows me away. It comforts me like that warm, fuzzy feeling one gets from running into a parent’s wide open arms when coming home to know that God sees all of me, and that no matter what, it doesn’t change how much He just wants me as His.

It’s telling of God’s mercy that my sin forgiven doesn’t refer to a specific type of person. It refers to everyone. No matter what we’ve done, God’s mercy extends far beyond those actions, and those sins are forgiven and removed “as far from us as the east is from the west.” (Psalm 103:12) All the blame and shame and guilt that our sins could possibly heap on us was put on Jesus, and not a shred of that is placed on us.

Not. A. Shred.

As a result, God sees us as blameless. Blameless. I mean, what? Free from fault or defect. This is where I’ve got to put my palms up and say, Hold up, hold up, hold up. That blamelessness that’s showered over me when my sins were forgiven? That just makes me so incredibly thankful. Thankful that we have God who loves us so much, that He set the events in motion before time began to save us from ourselves. That fact kind of makes me squeal with delight.

I feel even more delighted as the last phrase rounds out: my history rewritten. Now, any person interested in history has probably at one time or another wondered how the present times would’ve turned out if specific historical events were changed (I honestly thought about this a lot in my high school history classes…). The truth is that we’ll never know, but it’s probably safe to say that events would turn out much differently today – and maybe not for the better – if we were able to go back and change the past. But that is exactly what happens when we come into relationship with Jesus and receive His boundless mercy: He rewrites our history so that we’re no longer of a lineage that includes sin, shame, and death. Our futures are then rewritten to include life, mercy, and forgiveness! That’s just crazy awesome to me.

You delight in showing mercy
Mercy triumphs over judgement

This is the part of the song that makes my heart sing and just brings tears to my eyes when I think of it. Where do I even begin? God delights in being merciful. Again, this isn’t something that He does out of obligation. It’s a part of His character, and a gift that He greatly enjoys giving to us. And not only that, but mercy triumphs. It seems like a principle of life or a scientific law – something that just is. No matter what, His mercy will and does triumph.

We completely deserve God’s judgement. But instead, because of who God is, “[He] is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.” (Psalm 116:5) This is where my brain makes a huge sploosh sound of explosion. This is such a simple concept, and yet something that my heart needs to hear time and time again to internalize – God is merciful. I don’t get the judgement I deserve because His mercy triumphs instead.

Over judgement.

Over lies.

Over fear and doubt.

Over condemnation.

Over guilt and shame.

Over inadequacy.

Over all.

I can’t help but feel so immensely grateful that His mercy triumphs. I can’t write words strong enough that show how deeply meaningful this is to our lives. God’s mercy is such a wonderful blessing. And it’s free.

Oh love, great love
Fear cannot be found in You
There will never be a day
You’re uncertain of the ones You choose

So when I first heard this part, I instantly thought, “What?” I didn’t immediately think of the correlation between fear and love, but weeks later I was reminded of the verse in 1 John 4:18 that says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

Wow-za.

In Lamentations 3, we see in verses 22-23 that “because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Or, as the NLT version says: The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.

I can’t even put into words how amazing this is. We deserve punishment (through judgement). We deserve to have God’s love and mercy cease.

But… it doesn’t. It can’t, because that’s not who God is, and that is amazing! He loves us too much to let us be consumed – by fear, by life, by whatever. He loves us too much to not impart mercy on our lives in the places we desperately need it. He loves us.

He loves us.

You know how repetition helps students memorize basic facts? This is another thing that my heart needs to hear and ponder in much the same way: He loves us. He loves me. He is merciful. No matter what.

That perfect love drives out fear from our lives. That perfect love means that He chooses us without any doubt, and we can be sure of that, because His faithful love for us never ends.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through … Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 1:3)

You delight in showing mercy
Mercy triumphs over judgement

So I will awake and spend my days
Loving the One who has raised me up
From death to life, from wrong to right
You’re making all things beautiful

You delight in showing mercy
Mercy triumphs over judgement

The Anglican theologian Richard Sibbes summed up the good news of Jesus beautifully when he said: “There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”

How awesome and blessed to belong to such a merciful God.

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