November 21, 2024

God of Mercy and Steadfast Love

July 15, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercy and loving-kindness;
for they have been ever from of old.
Remember not the sins (the lapses and frailties)
of my youth or my transgressions;
according to Your mercy and steadfast love
remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
Psalms 25:6 and 7 AMP

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O Lord, we are so thankful that You are full of mercy and steadfast love!  Truly we do recognize our sins, our faults, our  frailties…but far more important than dwelling on them is to acknowledge  how faithful and good You are in forgiving us!   Thank You for the many examples You have given us throughout the Scriptures…of men such as Your man, David.  Thank You for showing us Your heart towards their repentance.  Thank You for the encouragement we have to do the same, knowing that their God is our God.  And that the same way You remembered not their sins, You will do the same for us according to Your goodness, Your mercy, Your steadfast love.  Thank You!  We love You and adore You!  May our hearts be set to honor and glorify You as we endeavor to be in obedience to You.  We pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.

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Ayin Adonai

July 4, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Behold, the Lord’s eye <Ayin Adonai> is upon those who fear Him,
who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness.
Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield.
For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us,
in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.

Psalms 33:18-22

Such a comforting thought—that our Father has His ‘eye on us!’  Of course, our heavenly Father does not have actual, physical eyes!  But, if He did, they would be awesome, magnificent, never-missing-anything eyes, wouldn’t you say?  And, figuratively, that IS the truth!  Almighty God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and all that is upon this earth AND us, He DOES see us—everything around us, everything about us, everything we do, everywhere we go.

When human characteristics or attributes are placed on God it is called biblical anthropomorphism.  Anthropomorphism basically means ‘the form of man.’  A synonym for anthropomorphism is ‘personification’.  There are many examples throughout the Scriptures of both God referring to Himself and the writers of the Bible referring to God in “anthropomorphic” terms.  One purpose to do so would be to describe God in terms more understandable to humans.  Since God is invisible and has no form, we would not have a framework on which to understand Him.  (Here is a great article which explains this in detail.)

Doing a simple search for the phrase, ‘eyes of the Lord,’ came up with over 100 Scriptures on Biblegateway.com.  Here is a link  if you would like to go and read them all yourself!!!  Many refer to a person doing either what is right and good, or doing evil.  Here are a few passages which I particularly love (hope you do, too)!

But Noah found grace (favor) in the eyes of the Lord.
Genesis 6:8 AMP

And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done.
1 Kings 15:11

For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth
that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.
2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB

For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He watches all his paths.
Proverbs 5:21

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.
1 Peter 3:12

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May the end of Psalm 33 be the prayer of our hearts!

Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield.
For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted in His holy name.
Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us,
in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.

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Praising God Everywhere

June 15, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations;
His glory is above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap,
To make them sit with princes,
With the princes of His people.
He makes the barren woman abide in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113

The whole of Psalm 113 describes three of my favorite things:
1. We are called to praise God
2. Praise celebrates God because He is beyond compare
3. God’s grace

We are called to praise God. (Read verses 1-3.) Verse one states, “Praise the Lord!” This is an imperative, meaning it is a command we are to obey.

• Who offers praise?  God’s servants
• What is to be praised? His name. The name of God represents who He is. No matter our circumstance we can always praise God for who He is.
• When is His name to be praised? From this time forth…right now!
• How long is He is be praised? Forever
• Where are we to praise God? From the place where the sun rises all the way to the place where it sets. We are to praise God wherever we are and in all places.

Can you think of a time or place where it is difficult to praise God?  Focus on who He is and continue to praise Him!   Two concepts are included in this one illustration about God’s creation praising Him.

First, since the sun rises in the east and sets in the west it means that the Lord is to be praised or recognized as God, everywhere.

Secondly, since the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening it means that God is to be praised all day long, at all times. From the bursting forth of each new day to the slow-spreading shadows of the evening each and every new day is a gift from God’s hand to us. Each and every new morning sunrise has within it a promise of fresh new blessings from the same hand that created the sun.

Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

God’s mercy ensures us that we will not get what our thoughts and actions deserve. Mercy is not getting what we merit. Sometimes mercy comes in interesting packages that are really God’s grace.

A doctor who is a believer had seen an unusually large number of unscheduled patients one morning, and was exhausted. As he sat down for lunch at the hospital canteen, he placed his hands over his eyes, closed his eyes, and thought to himself, “I’ll scream if another patient shows up without an appointment…” Opening his eyes, he saw an elderly woman approach. She said, “You know, I was nervous about coming to this hospital … but now I know this place is okay, because I see that the doctors pray before eating.”

Do you think that was a fresh new mercy from God?  I do!

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Lord, help us realize that praising and worshipping You should be our lifestyle; in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

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Mercy

March 6, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Praise the LORD!
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can declare all His praise?
Psalms 106:1-2

According to the Random House Dictionary, the word mercy is defined as follows:

mer•cy

1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.
2. the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.
3. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.
4. an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.
5. something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.

I know what the Biblical concept of mercy is.  But, I wanted to know the actual definition of the word—compassion, kindness, favor, blessing.  This is what God gives us despite our actions, despite or lack of actually earning these things from Him.  We’re instructed to give thanks because of the fact that we have not earned them, and not only does He bestow the blessing of mercy on us but “His mercy endures Forever!” It isn’t a one-time occurrence, but forever.

I tried to search and see how many times the word mercy was used in the bible, my search came up with anywhere between 170 and 262; so, basically, a lot.  I didn’t find the actual count, but I did find something interesting.  The word mercy is often paired with another word—whether it is love, truth, or grace—but mercy is usually not found alone.  My search showed me something else as well (similar to not being able to find the total number of times mercy is found in the Bible)—I wouldn’t ever be able to tell someone how many times I have seen God’s mercy in my life.

Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD?
Who can declare all His praise?

I couldn’t even began to try.  There are hundreds, even thousands, of times where He has bestowed His mercy on my life and on the lives of my friends and family.  Trying to think of the number overwhelms me, it shows just how much He loves me…how MUCH He loves us.  It sometimes worries me that I won’t have an answer if I’m asked what God has done for me—there is so much that I wonder if I would know where to start.   So I am going to try something, not just when someone asks, but I am going to start today…now.  I am going to thank God for what he has done today—for waking me up, for making sure there is a roof over my head, for life, mine and the lives of my family, for a sound mind, for a healthy body.

I want to make an intentional effort to thank the Lord…to acknowledge Him for the countless acts of mercy I have seen in my life.

Let’s Pray:  Dear Heavenly Father, I don’t even know where to start when it comes to saying thank You, there is no way I could address everything You have done for me, but I want to be intentional in thanking You daily for what You do for me, for my family.  Your mercy is very present in our lives, and for this I thank you.  In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

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