What is Mercy? Part 1

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Checed, or as one of the translations mercy, is a powerful word. Its meaning conveys power and authority, yet, it also demonstrates compassion and love by the giver. Mercy is always welcomed, but given sparingly in today’s society. In the Old Testament, the word mercy is used many times to convey thanks to God in His showering of undeserved graciousness upon humanity and is a character trait that God urges humanity to mirror as the process of sanctification shapes and forms our being.

Attribute of the Father



God, as God, is omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, and omnipresent. As such, there are certain attributes that belong to Him that are immutable, that is, unchanging. They are a part of His intrinsic worth and define whom He is. Along with love, patience, transcendence, and many others, God is also merciful or has mercy. And because it is an attribute of His nature, it is abundant and overflowing as is seen in Numbers 14:18 where it states that, “The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy.” Again in Psalm 86:5 and 15, God is said to have abundance in this gracious attribute of mercy. In Micah 7:18 God is understood to take delight in being merciful and cannot remain angry. Mercy then in these passages, outweighs anger and shows that the God of the bible is above all else, loving, in that He is so abundant with his mercy, and also patient, in that He is longsuffering and willing to endure humanity’s disobedience and disrespect. This abundant mercy can be seen from the very beginning of humanity and although the specific word checed is not used in the chapters of Genesis pertaining to Adam and Eve, mercy was undoubtedly given to them, for they had sinned against God and were deserving of greater wrath than which they were dealt. In understanding this attribute of God however, a certain foundation must be present.

In studying the word checed, the Hebrew word ‘emeth or truth, as the most used translation, was found in conjunction with it on many accounts. Genesis 24:27 states that, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master.” Why has God not forsaken mercy and truth? Because they are both immutable attributes and therefore He cannot change them. As an integral attribute of God, mercy gives hope to humanity in knowing that He will deal kindly with us despite ourselves. However, without this other attribute of God, truth, hope and stability would be lost and mercy would become a cruel joke in which it is dealt out randomly. But because God is truth or ‘emeth, humanity can be assured that He will not change and will always keep his word. In 1 Chronicles 16:34 David sings, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” It endures because it is truth, because it is who He is. Another verse is Psalm 57:3 where David says, “Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth,” and Psalm 85:10 where the sons of Korah state that, “Mercy and truth have met together…” Given the above verses then, mercy is so powerful because God is truth, which creates trust and provides piece-of-mind and security for humanity. Looking beyond just the words as they are written though, another truth arises about the context of checed in the Old Testament, its prominent place and role it has in authority. To be continued...

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