LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Friday 4th February 2022
THE LORD OF MERCY
Have mercy on me, O Lord! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death, That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation. Psalm 9:13–14
In view of God’s past deliverances, David now called on God to respond to his affliction and give him reason to praise. The psalmist asked the Lord to show him mercy.
God deals with people in two ways. He can deal with us according to His mercy or according to his judgment. When we fall on God’s mercy, He extends His kindness to us. When we come under God’s judgment, He extends His wrath to us. In his present crisis, David fell on God’s mercy. We can do the same when people pursue us wrongfully.
Why do we need God’s mercy?
• God’s mercy makes Him consider us. David threw himself on God’s mercy and called on the Lord to take note of what his enemies were doing against him. That is a lesson for us. We can also trust that the Lord of mercy will take notice of what we are going through.
• God’s mercy makes Him lift us up. The psalmist was confident that the Lord of mercy would lift him up from ‘the gates of death’. He knew that if the Lord did not intervene, his enemies would kill him. However, David was convinced that God would deliver him. We can also trust the Lord to deliver us from the trap of the enemy.
• God’s mercy gives us a testimony. Though David was in a very precarious situation, he had the assurance the Lord would give him a testimony. Rather than going down into the pit of his enemies, the psalmist promised to testify of God’s deliverance.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I receive your mercy in this time of need. Thank you for deliverance. In Jesus’ name, Amen!