Mercy and truth are paired in twelve Old Testament verses. They seem an odd couple. Mercy is doing good toward someone who has not earned or deserved it. Truth is the exact and total reality, without excuses or rationalizations. In company with mercy, truth concerns clarity regarding the reason for doing good, and clarity about the unworthy state of the recipient.
This is my conclusion after thinking about today’s devotional verse. It says, “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies” (Psalm 25:10).
While it sounds like keeping God’s Laws result in mercy and truth, the rest of the Bible does not support that. Instead, He is merciful because He knows that I cannot keep His commandments. In great mercy, He sent Jesus Christ to die so that my immense failure could be forgiven. I do not deserve forgiveness and eternal life, but because of Jesus He gives it anyway. That is mercy.
He makes no excuses for what He did or for what I am. He says that His mercy is for His glory and I am a sinner who deserves none of it. No wonder David wrote, “But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth” (Psalm 86:15).
David knew it too. He was a sinner, deserving God’s wrath, but in mercy and truth God forgave His sin and even made him into “a man after God’s own heart.” This is mercy, but without hiding any of David’s folly and sin, or patronizing him.
Truth is an important partner in this mercy thing. Truth is about God who does not blindly look at me, patting my head and saying my sin is okay. He knows who and what I am. But truth is also about me. I cannot expect God’s mercy if I assume that my sin is anything less than what it is. I cannot expect mercy if I cover it, lie about it, rationalize what I am doing, or make excuses for it. I cannot let sin or my own I-wants deceive me. Truth is mercy’s partner.
The odd part about this odd couple is that when I am truthful, God changes my heart and keeps me in that place of enjoying His mercy. If I avoid the truth, then I cannot stay on the straight path by myself. “Do they not go astray who devise evil? But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good” (Proverbs 14:22).
If I experience mercy and truth, then another pair will also be part of what I am and do. That pair is humility (I do not deserve God’s mercy) and honesty (I cannot be false about who I am and how I live).
I am not a believer in mantras, but if I were, then I would spend the day repeating, “Mercy and truth” because I am entirely glad that God is merciful. I am also glad for truth, because without it, I would not know how badly I need mercy.
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