Have Mercy

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner. Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner.

I read this morning from Habakkuk. He was complaining about how the Lord, who was so pure and without evil, would use the Babylonians, who were so high on themselves, to execute judgment. The Lord assured him that they would get theirs; they would not escape wrath. The last chapter of Habakkuk is a prayer of his. He says, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” This last phrase struck me: “in wrath remember mercy.”

I so many times forget to fall before God asking for mercy. It is only through his mercy that I can live at all. With the sin that is so prevalent in our country we need the mercy of God. I so easily think to myself, “You know...I have been doing pretty good for the past week or so in regard to sin.” This tends to lead me to think that I am cool with God and somehow don’t need to ask for mercy. “I haven’t really sinned recently,” I might think, “so I don’t need to ask for mercy.” How small a thinking we have! We need to always keep our station before us. We are sinners in need of the mercy of God. To remember this all the time keeps us humble not only before the Almighty God, but also before our fellow humans.

Someone reading this might have thought to themselves when reading the first paragraph, “What in the world has he done? No one says these things without having sinned big time.” This person would be right. We tend to spread our sins out over our lifetime. They don’t look that bad if we do this. But, if I were to pull all my sins together to where I could see them all at once, I would realize how much I need the mercy of God.

Lord, as I walk today. Keep before the attitude that I am a sinner in need of your grace. Even Paul was able to keep his sins before him, to the point of calling himself ‘the worst of sinners.’ Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.