Lesson 33

HIS MERCY

Table of Contents

– His Mercy

Scriptures Cited:

Psalm 30:1-12, Psalm 136:1-26

We will begin this lesson in the book of Psalms chapter 30, starting in verse 1. As always, I encourage you to engage your heart, mind and spirit with the Spirit of God through His word.

Psalm 30:1-12
¹ I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. ² O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. ³ O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

⁴ Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

⁵ For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

⁶ And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.

⁷ Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. ⁸ I cried to thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication.

⁹ What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? ¹⁰ Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me: Lord, be thou my helper.

¹¹ Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;

¹² To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

There is so much goodness in this passage of scripture. In particular I want to note verse 5 where it says, “His anger endureth but a moment”, but “in His favour is life”. Also that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” We are all aware that difficult times and difficult situations may come. But by faith we should keep in mind what this scripture says – those difficult times only last for a moment. And afterwards there is joy, there is goodness in God. Throughout scripture we can see ‘both sides of God’ – His anger and His mercy. And here we see that His anger endures only for a moment. 

Sometimes when praying, it is good to pray the scriptures back to Him. You know, to say “Lord, YOU said…” or “You said this in Your word.” With that in mind, we will go over to Psalm 136 beginning in verse 1 where we are reminded of the Lord’s goodness:

Psalm 136:1-26
¹ O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. ² O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. ³ O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever.

⁴ To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. ⁵ To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever. ⁶ To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. ⁷ To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever:

⁸ The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever:
⁹ The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever.
¹⁰ To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹¹ And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹² With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever.

¹³ To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁴ And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁵ But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever.

¹⁶ To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

¹⁷ To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:
¹⁸ And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever:

¹⁹ Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²⁰ And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²¹ And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²² Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever.

²³ Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever:
²⁴ And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever.
²⁵ Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.

²⁶ O give thanks unto the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever.

If there is one thing to be learned from this ‘lesson’ it is that our God is good. And His mercy endures forever. And so, when we need help from Him, when we need His goodness, we can pray this back to Him and say “Lord, YOU said your mercy endures forever… so I am calling on your mercy and I am calling on your goodness.” 

Hopefully this lesson will serve as a reminder to us of His goodness and His faithfulness… and that we can always lean on Him for that. We will leave it there for this lesson, and my prayer is that you be blessed in Jesus’ name.