How Great Is God’s Mercy?

By looking at two examples of how God showed mercy and forgiveness to men in the Old Testament, we can appreciate how God will do the same for us today.

The four words were ringing in David’s ears as an expression of shock covered his face.

“You are the man!”

A pointed story

Nathan had just told David the story of two neighbors, one rich and one poor, who had sheep. The poor man had one lamb that was like a daughter to him. The rich man had great flocks. One day, the rich man had a traveler visit him. Rather than feed him from his own flocks, he took the poor man’s lamb and fed it to the traveler.

King David had been enraged by this! He declared that the rich man would be punished.

Nathan then said to David, “You are the man!” (2 Samuel 12:7). David suddenly realized Nathan’s story was referring to David’s recent adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite.

Realizing his wrongs, David repented and turned to God for forgiveness. His plea to God is recorded in Psalm 51, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” (verses 1-2).

Have mercy upon me

David wasn’t the only person in the Bible to plead with God for mercy. In 2 Chronicles 33, we read the story of Manasseh, a later king of Judah. Upon being crowned king, he did evil—he worshipped false gods, rebuilt the pagan high places and even participated in child sacrifice (verses 3, 6). He went so far as to set up a carved image in the temple (verse 7).

Manasseh eventually led Judah to “do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel” (verse 9).

God eventually allowed the Assyrian army to come upon Judah. Manasseh was captured and carried off to Babylon. In Babylon, Manasseh “implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (verse 12).

The multitude of Your tender mercies

So, how great is God’s mercy? We read in the Bible that God did have mercy on David and Manasseh. God forgave David and allowed him to continue reigning as Israel’s king. David still had to suffer some of the consequences of his sin, but he did not lose his throne or his life.

Manasseh was brought back to Jerusalem, where he took away the high places and followed God for the remainder of his reign.

As encouraging as these accounts are, there is an even more encouraging account of God’s mercy that we are all a part of. Paul reminded Titus, “According to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

What did Christ save us from? We are told in Romans 6:23 that the “wages of sin is death” and in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

How did Christ save us? We are told that Christ “bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Christ died for our sins so that we could be totally forgiven.

Jesus Christ, the Creator of heaven and earth, willingly gave His life for you, for me, for everyone who lived and died in the past, for everyone who is alive today and for everyone who will live in the future. Every single person has sinned. Yet Christ showed mercy and offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins so that all of us could have a chance to become a member of God’s family.

So, how great is God’s mercy? David tells us on the day the ark of the covenant was brought to Jerusalem: “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (1 Chronicles 16:34).

To learn more about God’s mercy and forgiveness, read “What Is Forgiveness?”