Revelation and Response: Lord, Have Mercy

Dear Worshipers,

First of all, to my regular readers, have mercy on me if you will. I had every intention on getting these tunings out a week ago, but the Lord took me into other pursuits last Tuesday and away from them. I like the discipline of writing regularly, and from the comments I have received from a number of you, you enjoy reading them regularly as well. To God be the glory for all the tuning in the past in advance for that which His voice will invite today.

Pastor David in his annual report published in January put the words of this simple prayer before us. A couple of weeks ago he expanded on it a bit in his Thursday thoughts. In our weekly meeting he shared that he will likely develop this into a sermon series. It has been on his heart a lot lately, so it has been on mine too. In the midst of that meeting it occurred to me [the Holy Spirit revealed to me] how this concise prayer gives us both elements of worship that we have been examining lately-revelation and response.

You see, in the very act of calling out to Him, “Lord”, there is the acknowledgement of His position over us. Immediately, we are confessing that we exist to serve Him, His purposes, and His ways. Though some will call Him Lord using it simply as a title (Matthew 7:21-23), we choose to submit to His kingly authority. He has revealed Himself to us as Lord, and we have chosen to recognize that.

That recognition is only the beginning of our response. When we see God rightly for who He is, we can then and only then see ourselves rightly. When we catch a even a glimpse of Him in His sinless perfection, we immediately will be aware of our sinful imperfection. What does one say who realizes he is guilty and deserves punishment: “Have mercy. Do not treat me as my sins necessitate.” When we have a good understanding of God, and ourselves in light of Him, our first response after adoration will be confession. Lord, have mercy on me for…

But these are not the only times we call out for mercy. When facing a very difficult situation the Psalmist cried out for God’s mercy, “Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt.” (123:3) When the father of a demon-possessed man came to Jesus asking for healing and deliverance he asked, “Lord have mercy on my son…” (Matthew 17:15) And there are any other number of situations that have probably already occurred to you [the Holy Spirit revealed them to you] as you have been reading. Maybe they are in your life, or the life of someone dear to you. Cry out to the Lord now for mercy. And then keep doing it through the rest of your life as you “tune {your}heart to sing {His} grace.”

In Christ,

Pastor Scott