God’s Delight in Displaying His Mercy
This morning, the following prayer from Matthew Henry’s A Way to Pray fed my soul and lifted my spirit as it directed my thoughts to the greatness of God’s mercy.
O our Covenant Lord, you are good and always ready to forgive. You are rich in mercy to all that call on you. You are a God full of compassion, You are gracious, patient, and plenteous in mercy and truth. You are a God who pardons sin. You are merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. You do not always reprimand, and you do not harbour resentment against sin forever. You blot out our transgressions for your own sake, and never remember our sins again. Psalm 86:5, 15; Neh 9:17; Psa 103:9; Isa 43:25.
Lord, let your great power bring about the full salvation of your people. Show yourself to be slow to anger and of great mercy, forgiving sin and rebellion. Pardon the iniquity of your people once more according to the greatness of your covenant love, even as you have done from the first day of our salvation until now. For who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and overlooking the transgression of the remnant of your people. You do not retain your anger forever, for you delight in showing mercy. Have compassion on us, tread our sins under foot, and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. Numbers 14:16-19; Micah 7:18-19.
