“If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you.” – 2 Samuel 7:14b-15 (NKJV)
Mercy Defined
We talk a lot more about grace than mercy now, at least in the communities I move in. I love the simple definition of mercy as not receiving the punishment one deserves and grace as receiving blessings that one does not deserve. Perhaps it is because we do not talk so much about sin, and thus less about mercy.
Mercy brings us from the status of being being condemned to forgiven, and grace brings us from forgiven to favoured.
Below is a simple visual of how I see mercy and grace. They come hand in hand. We cannot receive grace without mercy.
Mercy on this Seed
The teachings and expositions I have read on the Sure Mercies of David have alluded to Jesus Christ through whom the mercy of God has been extended to us believers. This position is very important and critical to our salvation. I personally is so thankful for this mercy as without it I will be damned for eternity for my sins.
My question is why would Jesus need the sure mercy? Is not His position as the son of God and sinless absolve Him from judgement? If He does not need to be judged, then there is no need for mercy.
(I am aware that I am on a trajectory that might be a less traveled path and I am open to discussion. f anyone of you know of any established writers who bear similar position, please let me know too as I have reading and looking for another independent voice echoing perspective similar to this!)
As the son of God, yes He is sinless and of no need of judgement. Yet as son of David who as the king over all with an eternal kingdom, Jesus bears the responsibility over all His subjects. A good king and leader bears the burden of his people. Jesus took on the sin of the world, as the king of Israel. As I have established previously that the only way Israel has true and complete rest is when all the enemies are no more. This implied that this promised King is to be King over all. So it is pertinent that Jesus took on all the sin of the world, which is expressed in the popular verse John 3:16.
I see the sure mercies of David at work here for Jesus, the son of David. King Saul was rejected because of his sin against God. The Davidic Covenant is very clear that this descendent of David will not have the same end as King Saul even if He sinned. In verse 14b, God is clear that this son of David will receive punishment from men, but mercy from God. It was a reverse of King Saul as he did not receive punishment from men but from God. Jesus was judged for the sin of the world on Him by the world, by men. Jesus took on one of the most cruel way of capital punishment through the cross meted out by men. The sure mercies of David was activated when God pardoned the sin of the world on Jesus in His resurrection. Yes, Jesus is the perfect sacrificial lamb, yet we know that the lamb in the Old Testament had to die to pay for the price of sin of mankind no matter how perfect it was. Jesus lived. Mercy was extended to this Lamb from death.
Lesson Learnt
I am amazed by the intricate details and trouble God went through to “plan” for the salvation of creation. My instinct when something I am working on went off tangent away from the end I had in mind, I will restart. God wanted to with the flood during Noah’s time. Yet His lovingkindness made Him relent to provide a rainbow covenant.
Sin can be taken rather frivolously in our time and age, even among the Christian community. Perhaps it is our temporal view of our lives, where the eternal effects of sin are not within our consideration. Yet our loving Father above saw all these and took the pains to work around the principles and laws in creation that was set to make a way for us ignorant “blur” creatures who know not what we are doing. He did not just provide a way to pardon our sins, but He also paves the way to blessedness.
I leave us with a quote from Spurgeon about the sure mercies of David.
“God dealt with Israel by way of mercy, and to make that mercy sure He took a man whom He had chosen, a man whom He loved, a man whom He intended to use, and He made with him a covenant that He would set him upon the throne, that by his personal influence he might bring down blessings upon all the people. These are “the sure mercies of David.”” – Spurgeon