Mercy To Live Holy

“Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy, and teach me thy statutes.” (Ps 119:124 AV)

The more I study myself, the more I don’t like what I discover.  I’m more wicked than I can imagine.  God is beyond merciful in the mere existence of mankind.  Why He chooses to create us, I will never understand.  Humility is a hard trait to gain.  Self-denial is impossible.  If the truth is known, we are so far from God’s holiness that without Jesus, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and prayer, any hope of righteousness is quickly dashed.  When I read the verse above, I am reminded that the mercy of God is not limited to forgiveness.  The mercy of God is not limited to encouragement.  The mercy of God is not something we run to when we feel as though we have failed.  The mercy of God is also needed to grow into Christlikeness.  To overcome faults, mercy is still inseparably important.  This is to what our writer is referring.  He desires the mercy of God manifested by learning, understanding, and applying the word of God.  He desires God to be good to him so that he can return that same goodness back to Him.  The mercy of God, as revealed above, is sought that the writer might live godly before the One whom he declares he loves.

The thing is, walking contrary to the word of God costs the individual.  There are consequences for wrong choices.  At first, we are upset over the consequences that affect our temporal existence.  We do not like the bumps and bruises that come our way because of what he did, or failed to do.  We do not like the hardships resulting from walking contrary to the perfect law of liberty.  We seek God’s mercy because we simply do not want to suffer for wickedness.  As we mature, we realize that sin has other consequences.  Our minds and spirits are also affected.  We don’t like the guilt, shame, and confusion which sin thrusts upon us.  So, we seek the mercy of God so we can have a sound mind and clear conscience.  But as we approach full maturity, we realize the most damage sin does is with our personal walk with God.  God loves us and we, Him.  But not as deeply as is possible.  We realize that the sin of our hearts is contrary to an intimate walk with the Creator.  He is there.  We pray.  We worship.  Yet, there is intimacy lost that could be there if we would simply trust the LORD’s mercy to teach us His statutes.

This teaching goes beyond fact and understanding.  David is not asking for a school lesson.  He is not asking that he understand the intricacies of the law of God and how it might point to greater truths.  His request is about as humble as one could be.  He is asking for the LORD to teach him not only what he is supposed to do, but the disciplines to see that it is done.  This is a mercy.  This request is so intimate.  Imagine a child who is told to arise at a certain hour so that he can do his chores.  When he does not, there are more chores heaped upon him.  The undone chores remain so and only get more difficult.  This child understands it is better to get up in the morning, but still struggles.  He is then bothered by Dad’s disappointment and frustrations.  He doesn’t want his father to be upset with him, so he sets his alarm a bit earlier.  He is successful to a point, but is still overcome by laziness.  Lastly, he desires a deep and intimate relationship with his dad, but he knows that will never happen until he gets up on time.  His motive has changed.  Instead of the dislike of consequences, all he wants is to please his father.  This is the spirit in which David asks for God’s mercy.  Mercy to live by the statutes of God’s word.