Showing Mercy

In the following scripture, Moses has just asked God to allow him to see God's face in all of it's power and glory, to which God responds … "Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live." So God covers Moses with His hand while His glory passes by … and then removes His hand so Moses can see Him from the rear as He walks on by.

Right in the middle of all this, for whatever reason, God says to Moses in the last half of Exodus 33:19 … "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."

This statement by God, on the surface, doesn't give us a complete understanding of why God said this or what God actually means by these words.

The word gracious usually means ... "courteous, kind, pleasantly indulgent, especially toward an inferior." As it is used here in the original Hebrew, it's meaning is ... "to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow."

There's an old Christian song that says … "When the Savior reached down for me, He had to reach way, way down for me …" God did indeed have to bend or stoop way down to reach fallen man, who was and is inferior in every way to the Lord. But He was willing … for He said, "I will," and God became a man.

The thought in this song of God reaching down is taken from Psalms 40:2 ... "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." That's where man was, always digging deeper into the muck, the horrible pit that here in this Psalm represents the sin of the world. What a gracious and merciful Savior.

There is another very important word we need to look at in this same scripture, and that is … mercy … meaning in Hebrew, "to have compassion on."

Take a look at Romans 9:15 where the Apostle Paul basically quotes this same scripture, but he changes his wording slightly from that of Moses …

"For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

"Mercy" in the Greek is close to the Hebrew meaning … to show pity through compassion.

"Compassion," as used in the same verse, strangely enough means almost the same thing ... to exercise pity.

What Paul's words are saying to me, if I may rephrase them are … "God said, I will show pity on whomever I choose, and I will exercise pity on whomever I choose." And does He not have that right?

When God said … "I will" … He was expressing His intention to initiate action; in this case it was to give mercy rather than withhold it. Either way, God's "will" … was to be done.

John Gill (1697-1771) the old English Baptist biblical scholar and theologian speaks about God's willingness in Exodus 33 to show mercy to Moses and his people …

" 'I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy' … the children of Israel had sinned against Him such as they had, yet He would show favor, grace, and mercy to them, in pardoning their sins. It would be distributed, not according to any merits of theirs, but according to His sovereign will and pleasure, and not to all, but to whomsoever He thought fit.
And so it is with respect to grace and mercy, as displayed in Christ to sinful men; it is not in proportion to their deserts, but according to the purpose and good will of God, and 'that' not unto all, but unto some whom He has appointed, not unto wrath, but unto salvation by Jesus Christ … and the more enlarged view men have of this, the more clearly and fully does the goodness and glory of God 'pass' also before them."

So, if I understand what he is saying ... God, who is still sovereign, has reserved the right to give or to withhold grace and mercy at His discretion. He therefore may dispense His blessing to whomever and with whatever terms He pleases.

Do God's words to Moses show that He has a right to dispense His blessings as He pleases?

Adam Clarke (1762-1832) a British Methodist biblical scholar and theologian answers this question with this statement ...

"It's as if God had said: 'I will make such a display of My perfections as shall convince you that My nature is kind and beneficent … but know, that I am a debtor to none of My creatures. My benefits and blessings are merely from My own good will. And therefore I now spare the Jews; not because either you, (Moses) who intercede for them or they themselves have any claim upon My favor … but of My own free and sovereign grace I choose to show them mercy and compassion. I will give My salvation in My own way and on My own terms.' "

Romans 9:16 … "So then [God's gift] is not a question of human will and human effort, but of God's mercy."

I conclude, therefore, that we have nothing to do with receiving God's mercy … it is strictly given according to His sovereign will for our lives.

Paul continues using the example of Pharaoh as one whom God didn't show any mercy too.

Romans 9:17-18 … "For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, I have raised you up for this very purpose of displaying My power in [dealing with] you ... So then He has mercy on whomever He wills (chooses) and He hardens (makes stubborn and unyielding the heart of) whomever He wills."

And lastly … I will present the same question Paul does in Romans 9:21 …

"Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same mass (lump) one vessel for beauty and distinction and honorable use, and another for menial or ignoble and dishonorable use?"

Paul is showing that even as the potter has a right, out of the same lump of clay, to make one vessel more honorable and another less honorable … does not God also have the same right with the vessels He creates?

Showing mercy is one of the things God does best.

So, whether you think your vessel of clay is in the more honorable category, or the other one, remember … "He brought whatever type vessel you are out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set you upon a rock, and established your goings."

And that Rock today is Jesus.