Mercy For Beggars

"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18: 13)

"...blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me." (Mark 10: 46,47)

"And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." (Luke 15: 17-19)

We must recognize a need for mercy before we will ever seek it from the Lord. The three beggars above realized their need for mercy and did not hesitate to cry out for it to the Lord. They did not come demanding mercy, but begging for it. This is the only way to obtain mercy of the Lord.

Many will cry for mercy but be denied it. Just to ask for it is not enough. It must be asked sincerely. It must not be asked with the idea of only being saved from the consequences of sin, but from sin itself; not just from the effects, but from the causes.

To beg for mercy appropriately is to ask God to find a way to be merciful to you without him having to sacrifice his justice and sovereignty. A penitent who prays thusly is one whom the Lord will hear and answer and show how he can be both "just and the justifier of him who believes in Jesus." (Romans 3: 26)

We should come to God as poor beggars, relative to the prospect of receiving mercy at his hand. We should come realizing that mercy is optional with God, that he is under no obligation to show mercy. Can you come hopeless and helpless? Or do you come thinking that God owes you deserved mercy?

"He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory..." (I Samuel 2: 8)

This is an act of great mercy. It demonstrates the truthfulness of these words:

"God, who is rich in mercy" (Ephesians 2: 4)

"For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee." (Psalm 86: 5 & vs. 15)

"Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy." (Micah 7: 18)

"...his mercy endureth for ever..." (Psalm 118: 2)

Beggars and penitents will receive mercy from the Lord because they come unworthily, and come knowing that they have no right to mercy but that it is is the sovereign perogative of God to show it or not.

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28: 13)

"So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy...What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?" (Romans 9: 16, 22-24)

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us." (Titus 3: 5)

To be saved by mercy implies that the one receiving mercy did not deserve it. God "has mercy on whom he will have mercy." He is under no obligation to show mercy. Yet, he has promised to do so to those who come as poor beggars. It is the person who comes humbly and who comes confessing his unworthiness, confessing his sins, that God promises to bestow mercy. To those who come in this fashion, mercy is promised.

"Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart." (Psalm 109: 16)

"For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (Hosea 6: 6)

"...omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matthew 23: 23)

"Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land." (Hosea 4: 1)

Those who feel no need for mercy and who have thus not sought nor found mercy with the Lord, are people who are generally themselves unmerciful. People who have been shown mercy from the Lord, generally show it to others. "He will have judgment without mercy on those who showed no mercy." (James 2: 13) Those who have received mercy from the Lord ought to be the most merciful of people.

God will indeed hear the truly humble penitent who cries out - "God be merciful to me a sinner."