Mercy Because Someone Else Died

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.
(2Sa 12:13)

The mercy of God is something we must never take for granted. David knew the fullest extend of God’s mercy after his sin was exposed by Nathan the prophet. Some of us could be wondering how this man could live for at least 9 months (a child was conceived in this illegitimate relationship with Bathsheba) being so numb to sin, but we must not judge this man without first considering the beam in our own eye (Matt 7:3). We need to be truthful before God lest we deceive ourselves (1 John 1:9). The Moral Laws of not murdering, not coveting, not bearing false witness were bundled into this affair that cost a faithful servant (Uriah) his life and wife. Interestingly David still had a sense of justice because he could even say ‘As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die’ (2 Sam 12:5), dare to even stand in judgment on behalf of Jehovah. The beam must be dealt with first prior to judging others.

And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
(Exo 25:21-22)

Physically the covering of the Moral Law is the mercy seat, here is a beautiful picture that mercy triumphs over judgment and God says He will commune with Moses from above the mercy seat, meaning from the place of mercy, we will come to a place of revelation in our deepest relationship with God. From that place of mercy, His commandments are not burdensome to us and we will begin to delight in them (Psa 112:1).

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
(Gen 3:21)

A very important Levitical practice is the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat (Lev 16:14), so mercy and blood has to go hand in hand. When Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden but God provided clothing for them as they departed. They lost the covering of God’s glory and needed a substitute covering lest they succumb to the environment; an animal had to die to provide for them. Someone else had to die in their stead (Gen 2:17) for disobedience that they will be covered both physically and spiritually.

How do we respond to God’s mercy?
It is to ‘be merciful’ to those i) who don’t deserve mercy, ii) who can’t by any means repay back our love, and iii) willingness to bear others’ burdens.

But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
(1John 3:17)

Being merciful is love in action, even as God’s love in sending His own Son to save us (John 3:16). The interesting thing is that we will not know God’s mercy unless we know how to first show it…. With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful…….(Psa 18:25)

Psa 41: 1 Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

Have you ever wondered why there seems to be always trouble in your life and all the prayers uttered didn’t seem to matter? Perhaps it is because we have not given any thought towards the poor. Providing for the poor has always been the natural behavior in the early church. Especially in these hard financial times, are we ‘fearful’ to release our resources to those in dire needs? Jesus is very clear about the requirement of entering into Heaven in Matt 25:31-40, it wasn’t about great miraculous exploits but it is about providing for desperate needs.

In Psa 51 David wrote so wonderfully for us to that forgiveness is on the basis of God’s mercy and knew that he will not be cast away from His Presence (Psa 51:11), having the revelation that some else had to die in place of his sin. God’s Presence must be very precious to us, because it came with cost of the life of the Son of God.