,, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;”
Ps.103: 8-17
The term "Merciful" or "Mercy" is often used through the expressions: mercy of God, merciful God, God of mercy and grace, etc. and the meaning of the expression would be that it is God's attribute by which God stops his anger without sinning about his holiness.
To better understand the term "grace and grace", we will imagine a story that will help us understand what "grace" is and what "grace" is, two terms that are often used together.
"In some empire, a robber who committed many evil deeds was arrested and taken to prison, and then it was confirmed at the trial that he deserved the death penalty for many crimes and evil deeds. The robber himself admits that the punishment is deserved and justified. just to wait for the moment when the punishment will be carried out.
But instead of the emperor signing the death sentence by which the death penalty will be carried out, the emperor decides to acquit all the accusations on the basis of his will of the robbers, and so the robber is released to go home. So he was given a freedom that he did not deserve. And now this freedom that was given to him is in fact "grace" because he got something he did not deserve.
And now, in addition to the fact that he received undeserved freedom, the emperor gives him a house and property to live on, and that is in fact "grace". "
From this fictional story of ours, we see that mercy is undeserved freedom, and grace is an additional reward that he also did not deserve, but he received by the will of the emperor.
And if we translate it to us now, it means that God does not punish us even though we deserve it, but sends us a grace that we did not deserve again, but we receive as a gift.
Mercy is God's undeserved affection for us and when we say say mercy we usually mean forgiveness but God does not pass so easily over the evil we have done in such a way that he will close his eyes and not look at it. God is holy and omniscient and as such He sees everyone our sin and because of that God is grieved His holiness and justice are hurt and because of that He must show His righteous anger because He hates sin. Of course God wants to help us to be saved from this trap and the way of salvation is the Lord Jesus Christ. To the Lord Jesus Christ and we confess our sins, God forgives us on the basis of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Forgiveness means to erase sin and "put on" the righteousness of Christ, and only then can we stand in God's presence.
And here we have now seen in action the grace and grace of God in action, and that is why it is written:
,,Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile."
Ps.32: 2
If it were not for God's mercy, no one could ever and nowhere be saved in any way because it says:
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;“
Titus Acts 3: 5
And here we clearly see that the reason why we are saved is the grace of God because God practically threw all our sins on His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ is our atonement and redemption and in the death of the Lord Jesus God's holiness and wrath are granted, our sins are forgiven and we are saved only because God suffers us for a long time because He does not want to die but cares for us and shows that He is merciful. and we don't deserve it.
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”
Eph.2: 4-5
,, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.”
Ps.103: 8-9
,, The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.”
Ps.145: 8
And he cares for us in many ways, so let's just mention that he gives us health, protects us from enemies, guides us in the right way, answers our prayers, saves us, corrects us where we sin, forgives sins, gives us bodily needs like food, water, clothes , footwear .... simply put it gives us everything we use while living here on earth.
"And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”
Exodus 34: 6
"The Lord [is] longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing [the guilty], visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation].”
Numbers 14:18
" I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul; and have not set thee before them. But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth."
Ps.86: 12-15
,, For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Ps.100: 5
" He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion."
Ps.111: 4
"But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I [am] the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these [things] I delight, saith the Lord.”
Jer.9: 24
"And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, [was] not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou [art] a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”
Jonah 4: 2
"Who [is] a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth [in] mercy.”
Micah 7:18
"And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and [in] the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
Luke 1: 76-79
"Blessed [be] God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;”
2 Cor.1: 3
"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.”
James 5:11
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
2 Pet.3: 9
Finally, let us mention that we do not deserve mercy and grace in any case, what we deserve is the Lake of Fire, but because of God's great mercy, we will not get it, but we will get eternal life by grace.
,,Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”
Ps.106: 1
