After a hectic week, Father, I am weary. I slept well last night and pray for another one tonight. Thank You for blessings unmeasured!
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The opening hymn for our services today was Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven. The text was written by Henry F. Lyte in 1834 (based on Psalm 103), and we sang it to the tune, Lauda Anima (which translates to “Praise my soul”), written by John Gross in 1869. I found that it was sung in 1947 at the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was also used as the opening hymn at the 2018 funeral of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush.
The last phrase of the third stanza piqued my attention as we recorded our online service yesterday morning and again each of the two times I sang it this morning. The phrase is …widely yet God’s mercy flows.
For whatever reason, my mind registered the word widely as wildly. I think both fit.
The term, widely, as written by Lyte, brings to mind not a creek or a stream but a mighty river. And that brings to mind the word wildly!
I want to run with that, but first, let’s do some foundational work on the word mercy. In my research, I came across this definition on Christianity.com. It stated,
Millard Erickson wrote in Christian Theology,
“God’s mercy is His tenderhearted, loving compassion for His people. It is His tenderness of heart toward the needy. If grace contemplates humans as sinful, guilty, and condemned, mercy sees them as miserable and needy.”
I also liked the one definition (and there are many) that I found on BibleStudyTools.com. Several Hebrew and Greek terms lie behind the English term “mercy.” The chief Hebrew term is hesed, God’s covenant “lovingkindness.”
We are miserable and needy, and in God’s mercy, we are shown His lovingkindness.
Now, I want to run a little with widely and with what registered in my mind – wildly. God does nothing in a small way. Not a single thing He does is insignificant. With God involved, I don’t see mercy as a creek or a stream. I see God’s mercy as a mighty river – a widely flowing mighty river of lovingkindness! All-encompassing… all-inclusive – that’s what God’s mercy is!
When it comes to the wildly flow of God’s mercy, a raging river comes to mind! It is rushing and wind-tossed, but we are not swept away. If anything, our miserable neediness is what is swept away. Another line from Christianity.com fits well here. It says, “…God continues to show mercy in forgiveness. Mercy triumphs over judgment…”
God goes above and beyond what we think would be necessary to meet our needs. He is not a God we can put in a box. He is wild and free in his holiness.
This brings to mind a post I shared in November of 2020 entitled He’s Not Tame. It’s well worth the read as well! God bless!
Jan 7th, 2024, Sun, 5:43 pm
