God’s Great Mercy

Psalm 119:156 Great are Your mercies, O Lord; The psalmist here is praising God for His great mercies. The Hebrew word used for mercy is rechem, which was originally the word for womb. That is interesting, that the Hebrews used their word for womb to express the characteristic of mercy.

I have heard that “Mercy is when we do not receive what we deserve (punishment), grace is when we receive what we don’t deserve (blessings of any kind). That always made sense to me, but it does not fit with the word “womb”.

When I did a search on the word mercy, I noticed that in the New Testament, it was used often by people who cried out to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy.” When they cried out, it wasn’t because Jesus was about to hit them and they had to cry for mercy to not be punished. They cried out for mercy because they were in need.

I read where blind men begged for mercy. (Matt 9:27-31; 20:29-34, Luke 18:35-39). Lepers pled for mercy to be healed (Luke 17:11-19) and parents asked for mercy for children who were demonized (Matt 17:14-16, Matt 15:22)

In every one of these instances, Jesus met their needs. He did not just refuse to punish them, much more, He took care of them. The actions of Jesus seem to reflect the meaning of that Hebrew word for mercy, or womb.

The same Hebrew word rechem,  is often translated compassion, as in Neh 9:19 You, in Your great compassion, Did not forsake them in the wilderness;     and                                                                                                               Neh 9:27 But when they cried to You in the time of their distress, You heard from heaven, and according to Your great compassion

Jesus is often said to have been moved with compassion.                 

Matt 14:14                                                                                                                            Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Matt 15:32-37                                                                                                             And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, " I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way."  33 The disciples said to Him, "Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?" 34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves do you have?" And they said, "Seven, and a few small fish." 35 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; 36 and He took the seven loaves and the fish; and giving thanks, He broke them and started giving them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 37 And they all ate and were satisfied,
Matt 20:33-34
They said to Him, "Lord, we want our eyes to be opened." 34 Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.
Mark 6:34-35
34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.

In each of these instances, Jesus was moved with compassion, or mercy, not just to rescue the people from punishment, but to meet whatever the need was. He healed some, fed some, taught some.  By God’s mercy, I am not only saved from the penalty of my sin, but I am lifted to a place where God is meeting all of my needs.