Let's open our Bibles again to
Psalm 36. I titled the message this evening,
Mercy that Sinners Need. Now, I would venture a guess
that most people have some concept, some thought that they need God's
mercy. They would have some idea. They
may not exactly understand it fully, but they have some idea
that they would like God to be merciful to them in whatever,
some fashion, form or another. So first I want us to see this.
I titled the message, Mercy that Sinners Need. Well, why is it
that we need God's mercy? The first thing I want us to
see is this, a description of man's nature that describes why
it is we need God's mercy. Verse one of Psalm 36. The transgression
of the wicked saith within my heart, that there's no fear of
God before his eyes. Now, man is wicked. All mankind,
our nature is wicked. And the word wicked there means
morally wrong and condemned. That's what we are by nature.
We're morally wrong and we're condemned. And the evidence of
our wicked nature is all the different transgressions that
we commit. And that word transgression means
a revolt, a revolt against God. David says the transgression
of the wicked. I watch them. I see their transgression.
I see their revolt. That says, to my heart, there
can't be any fear of God before their eyes. The only reason that
somebody would continually transgress against God, they're not afraid. They're just not afraid of the
judge of all the earth. Now, when we talk about these
things, I know what comes into our minds, at least what comes
into my mind. Let me point out that the worst of this transgression
is not drug users and harlots and thieves and those kinds of
things. The worst example of this revolt is people in false
religion. They are continually in all of
their religious activity revolting against God because they're going
about to establish their own righteousness and not submitting
themselves into the righteousness of Christ. Now, there's just
one reason they do that. They don't fear the Lord. They
don't have any reverence for Christ the Savior. So if a man
or woman like that, and that's our nature, if a man or woman
is going to be saved, then we need mercy, don't we? All right,
second, here's our description, verse two. For he flattereth
himself in his own eyes until his iniquity be found to be hateful. Now man flatters himself. This
is the way we kind of whistle through the graveyard. We flatter
ourselves. Man flatters himself by saying,
I'm good enough. I know I'm not perfect, but my
good, the good things I do outweigh my bad. I may do more good things
than bad things. I'm not perfect, but you know, I'm better than
most people. I do the best I can. Surely God will accept that.
Men flatter themselves into actually believing that. And he wants
to be religious, man, wants to be religious. So what he does
is he goes and finds himself a false prophet who will flatter
him by telling him what he wants to hear. The message of works,
the message of self-righteousness is so popular, so easy for those
people to draw a crowd for this reason. That message appeals
to our flesh. That message tells us that there's
something in our flesh we can do to please God. There's something
we can do to make ourselves more savable, more, you know, able
to receive God's mercy or something. That appeals to the flesh and
it makes us better than somebody else. But that message is a lie. You know, they tell you flattery
will get you everywhere. No, not in religion it won't. Not
in the gospel it won't. Flattery will get you nowhere
except hell. That's where it'll get you. That message that flatters
the flesh eventually is going to be found to be hateful. Eventually
it will, either when God shows mercy or when we appear before
God in judgment. But at some time, this message
that flatters the flesh is going to be found to be hateful. I
promise you, everybody who's in hell hates a free will preacher.
Everybody there does. Because now they hate the lie
he preached. Now they see just how hateful
that it is. Now God's preacher's not gonna do that. He won't flatter
the flesh. Paul told the church at Thessalonica,
he said, I didn't do that when I was with you. He said, at no
time did I ever use flattering words nor a cloak of covetousness.
God's my witness. He said, I never did that with
you. God's preacher, instead of flattering the flesh, kills
the flesh. God's preacher always shows us
exactly how dead and how sinful that our flesh is. The gospel
is always offensive to the flesh. And that kind of sinful flesh
is going to be saved. We don't need flattery. We need
mercy. All right, verse three. The words
of his mouth are iniquity and deceit. He hath left off to be
wise and to do good. All the words that come out of
the mouth of the flesh are words of iniquity and they're words
of deceit. And that's the kind of words
that have to come out because out of the abundance of the heart,
The mouth speaketh. Our heart is full of iniquity
and deceit. The heart of the flesh loves
iniquity, not holiness. So that's what it talks about.
You ever wonder, this is, I mean, it's a simple thing, but you
ever wonder why is it so difficult? Why do you have to work so hard
to keep the law? Just ignore all the rest of God's
law and just look at the 10 commandments. They're simple to understand.
Just take one, thou shalt not lie. Why you gotta work so hard
to keep that? Because our flesh is iniquity.
It's deceitful. That's why we got, that's why
we find it so difficult to tell the truth. We lie when the truth
does just as well because our flesh is iniquity and deceit. The heart of the flesh love those
lies that flatter the flesh. You ever wonder why you get so
easily bored hearing the gospel preached? Because it doesn't
appeal to this flesh. Now, I know you love the Lord. I know that the Lord saved you.
I know he's revealed himself to you. I know that you have
a thirst and hunger for him. You have a desire to come hear
the gospel preached. But you know why you came here tonight?
We all came here in a body of flesh. We can't escape it, can
we? The natural man has left off
being wise. quit doing good. I'll tell you
why that is. Because we left off being wise
because we lost all of our wisdom when Adam fell. And here's the
proof. We've lost all of our wisdom
and we haven't improved not one whit from the moment Adam sinned. Not one whit. We still think
we can cover our shame and our guilt by our own good works.
We still think that. We've left off being wise. We've
lost the ability to do anything good when Adam fell. So now all
we can do is see. You know what it says here? We've left off doing good. People
think I do good things. This time of year out there,
Kroger's they got that Salvation Army, but I do good. I put money
in that thing, you know. But that's not doing. That's
not the good that the scripture talks about. When we tell you
what doing good is, according to God's Word, doing good. is
believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Doing good is quitting your works,
quitting doing things to try to satisfy God and resting in
Christ who already did. That's doing good. But that's
impossible for our flesh to do it. It's impossible until God
shows mercy. That's why we need mercy. Verse
four. He devises mischief upon his
bed. He said of himself in a way that's
not good. He abhors not evil. Now, man
is sinful. All we can do is sin. But our
nature is so sinful, we can't be satisfied with the sin that's
already out there in the world. We can't be satisfied with the
sin that we've already done. So what we do is we try to devise
more. You know, when a person has time
to think, What they do by nature is try to think up more ways
to sin, more ways to satisfy that sinful nature. So he sets
himself in a way that's not good. He devises this is the way I'm
going to go. But it's not a good way because
he loves evil and hates goodness. He loves evil. You and you're
alone, especially when you're alone in your bed at night. That's
a good time. It's a good time to think of
the Lord, to think of his glory, to think of his mercy, to think
of his grace, to think of his salvation, to think of all the
blessings that God's given us all through our life and in the
day that's just passed. David did that. Look over at
Psalm 63. These are the things that the
man after God's own heart thought upon in his bed. Psalm 63 verse
five. My soul shall be satisfied as
with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with
joyful lips. Now here's how I'm going to praise
you when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in
the night watches. Now, why is it that David would
praise the Lord? Why is it? What is it that he
would remember the Lord in the night watches? Verse seven. Here's
why. Because thou hast been my help.
Therefore, in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul
followeth hard after thee. Why? Thy right hand upholdeth
me. That's why David thought upon
the Lord and meditated upon him in the night watches. It's all
the Lord's goodness to him. Our Lord preserved him and protected
him all this time. Look over a few more pages of
Psalm 77. Verse 6, he says, I call to remembrance my song
in the night. I commune with mine own heart
and my spirit made diligent search." Now, David, when you commune
with your heart, you're thinking here, you had the remembrance
here, the song in the night, you're communing with your heart,
you're making this diligent search. What are you seeking? What are
you seeking? Well, I can tell you he's seeking
the Lord, he's seeking mercy, and he's seeking grace. Verse
7, here he is, he's seeking the Lord. Will the Lord cast off
forever? Will he be favorable no more?
He's seeking the Lord. Verse eight, he's seeking mercy.
Is his mercy clean gone forever? Does his promise fail forevermore?
In verse nine, he's seeking grace. Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Those are the things
that David was thinking upon, the man after God's own heart.
That's what he was thinking on in his heart in the night watches
as he was laying there on his bed. But by nature, that's not
the things we'll think of, is it? No, it's not wicked. The
only way we'll think of those things is if God's merciful to
us. Now, God's mercy is not going to appeal to us in any way until
we see this, that the description of the wicked here is not just
a description of those people out there. It's a description
of you and me. It's a description of us. David's
not just pointing the finger at everybody else out there.
When he says the transgression of the wicked tells my heart
that there's no fear of God before their eyes, he's not just saying
about the wicked out there, he's talking about the wicked in here.
He said the transgression of the wicked, that tells my heart
just how wicked I am by nature. I've got the same nature that
they do. The transgression of the wicked tells my heart just
how much I need God's mercy. because I got the exact same
nature that they do. So that's a description of man. That's
why we need mercy. Now, here's the mercy that a
sinner needs. Here's a description of God's
mercy. First, verse five, God's mercy is sovereign mercy. Thy
mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, and thy faithfulness reacheth
unto the clouds. God's mercy is in the heavens. That means God's mercy is sovereign
mercy. It has to come down to us from
the throne of heaven. God's mercy was purposed. It
was designed and all began in the heavens, in the mind and
the purpose of God. And God's mercy came to this
earth in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's mercy was
carried out when Christ came to earth from heaven. God's mercy
is sovereign mercy. And God never shows mercy to
somebody because they deserve it. He always shows mercy to
somebody because he will. Now, we just read the description
of man. Can any man deserve God's mercy?
Can any man earn God's mercy? Not with that nature we can't,
and that's our nature. The only thing we can earn from
God is wrath. But God shows mercy to sinners,
not because we deserve it, but because of God's mercy. because
that's the character of God. Mercy always comes from the character
of God, not the character of man. So God shows mercy to whomsoever
he will. That's what he told Moses, I'm
gonna show mercy to who I will. That's the very definition of
sovereign mercy. God has mercy on whom he will. Then I cry, Lord have mercy on
me. You got mercy on somebody, have
mercy on me. Here's another way we see God's
mercy, sovereign mercy. Nothing can stop God's mercy
from reaching his people. It's sovereign. Nothing can stop
it. God is faithful. His faithfulness reaches into
the heavens. It reaches from heaven all the
way to earth. God's mercy reaches from the
heights of heaven to the very bottom drags of the barrel of
humanity. Nothing can stop God's mercy.
from reaching his people wherever they're found, because God's
mercy is sovereign mercy. And that's the only kind of mercy
that'll save a sinner. Sovereign mercy. Second, God's
mercy establishes righteousness, the righteousness that we need.
Verse six, thy righteousness is like the great mountains.
Thy judgments are a great deep. O Lord, thou preservest man and
beast. And look over at Isaiah chapter
16. Isaiah 16. God's sovereign mercy. Establishes
righteousness. Isaiah 16 verse five. And in thy mercy, shall the throne
be established and he shall sit upon it in truth, in, in the
tabernacle of David, judgment and seeking, adjusting and judgment
and hasting righteousness. The throne is established in
mercy. He that sits upon that throne
is going to haste to bring in righteousness. That righteousness
is established by Christ our King, Christ, the sovereign savior. He's the one that establishes
righteousness for his people in mercy. David said he has so
established this righteousness. He said, thy righteousness, the
righteousness that Christ has earned. the righteousness that
he's given to his people. David says that righteousness
is like the great mountains. You know, I love to look at mountains.
We've got the Amazon fire stick we've got. When it goes to a
screensaver, it shows all these pictures of mountains and I just
sit there mesmerized by that thing. These mountains are gorgeous. They're majestic. They're just
beautiful to look at. David said, that's God's righteousness.
That's his mercy. God's mercy is majestic. It's beautiful to look at. It
always inspires awe. God's mercy to sinners. Here's
the other thing I know about mountains. Mountains are strong. Hurricane force winds blow on
top of mountains. Mountain doesn't care, does it?
The mountain's unaffected. It's unchanged. Great blizzards
blow on top of those mountains, just dumping feet and feet and
feet of snow. The mountain doesn't care. It's unchanged. That's God's
mercy. God's mercy is strong. God's mercy is something that
a sinner can count on. And the storms of this life,
the attacks of this life, the sin of this life can never change
God's mercy. It can never change the righteousness
that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. Righteousness was established
in mercy when Christ satisfied God's justice for his people.
Davis says, thy judgments are very deep. Christ being judged
as a substitute for his people, being punished as the sacrifice
for his people after that he had made sin for them, that's
deep. That's profound. Salvation that
Christ has earned for his people is profound. God's people are
eternally preserved in that salvation that is provided in God's mercy.
All right, third, God's mercy comes from God's love for sinners,
verse seven. How excellent is thy loving kindness,
O God. Therefore, the children of men
put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. by loving kindness,
only God could love sinners. Only God could love sinners.
And David calls that love excellent loving kindness. That word excellent,
I looked it up, it means that something that is valuable or
costly. Well, salvation, mercy, that
was bought at a great price, wasn't it? Bought at the price
of the blood, of the lifeblood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
valuable, it's costly. And loving kindness means a kind,
a tender mercy. That almighty hand of God, that
hand that none can stay, that hand that none can stop, that
hand that holds his people so that no man can pluck them out
of my hand. How mighty, how strong. Can you think of that hand? That
great hand of all power dealing so kindly and tenderly with his
people. God deals with his people in
tenderness. That's all he's got left for
them. All of his wrath against their sin has already been poured
out upon his substitute. And all that's left for his people
is this tender mercy. David calls it excellent loving
kindness. See, mercy is not simply God
saying, eh, I'm not going to punish my people, even though
that's what they deserve. Now, that would be kind, to say,
I know they deserve to be punished, but I'm not, I'm just not going
to do it. That would be kind, but God can't show mercy that
way. Here's how God shows mercy. God fully punished his son for
the sin of his people so that he can in justice show this excellent
loving kindness, this, this tender love to his people in truth and
injustice. That's the kind of mercy that
saves a sinner. It's mercy that's in a salvation that takes away
the sin of God's people. Oh, thank God for his mercy.
He loves sinners. That mercy saves a sinner. And
that mercy is something you can take to bed with you. That mercy
is something you can take to work with you in the morning.
That mercy is something that you can take with you into the
fiery furnace of trial. That mercy is going to comfort
the heart. That mercy will calm the fears. That mercy will establish
the soul of anyone who trusts Christ. We're utterly safe, secure
in that mercy, his loving kindness. David gives us an illustration
of it. He says, therefore, because of your excellent loving kindness,
it provides a salvation that cannot be lost. Therefore, the
children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
You know, most of the riders, and this is a good illustration,
they talk about those chicks in a farmyard. They run and they
see that hawk flying. They all run up under the mama
hen. She holds them under her wings, and they're protected.
They're safe. They're all snuggled up, warm and safe. Those chicks
don't fear a thing under there. I always wonder what happens
if the hawk picks up mama, you know? Well, I'll tell you something
even better than that, even better than the mama hen holding those
chicks under her wings. the mercy seat. Remember the
mercy seat? God gave Moses the instructions
for the mercy seat. He said, Moses, you make that
mercy seat out of a pure slab of gold, beaten gold. You make
it flat, just the exact fit for the top of the ark of the covenant.
And over it, you form those cherubims with their wings stretched out
over the mercy seat. So when those wings of the cherubim
were stretched out over the mercy seat, there was a shadow there
on top of the mercy seat. And on that shadow, The high
priest would go in every year, sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice. That blood, you know, is a picture
of Christ our sin offering, Christ our sacrifice. God's people,
their sin has been put away under the shadow of those wings. The
blood being sprinkled, hiding in Christ, in his sacrifice,
in his blood that cleanses us from sin in his righteousness,
that makes his obedience, that makes us righteous before God,
that'll comfort the hearts of God's people. That'll calm all
of their fears. There couldn't be any place more
safe for a sinner to hide than in the shadow of thy wings, where
the blood has been applied to the mercy seat. And that brings
me to the fourth thing about God's mercy. God's mercy satisfies. Verse eight, they should be abundantly
satisfied. with the fatness of thy house,
and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasure."
Everyone who comes into the house of the Lord and drinks of God's
mercy, they're not just going to be satisfied. David says they'll
be abundantly satisfied. When God shows mercy, He never
shows just a little bit of mercy. He never gives just barely enough
mercy to get by. God's rich in mercy. He just
gives mercy to, overflows to his people. And that mercy gives
a sinner everything they need. Everything. We've seen it, that
mercy brings righteousness. Righteousness that can never
be lost. Righteousness that lets us stand before God accepted. Just as accepted as God's own
son. Made the righteousness of God
in him. We have that because of God's mercy. We could never
earn it, could we? We've got that righteousness.
The only reason we have it is God's mercy. God's mercy reveals
his love for his people. He loved his people so much he
gave his only begotten son to redeem him. You reckon he gonna
let anything cause him to lose them, let them perish? No. God's
love for his people means something. Mercy revealed God's love for
his people. It's mercy that reveals Christ
to the heart. The only reason we know Christ
is God merciful. God being merciful revealed His
Son to us and in us. And when the believer sees Him,
if God ever gives you a sight, by faith, of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you'll say, it's enough. It's enough to make me quit my
works. It's enough to make me quit thinking about everything
I can do to make God happy with me. It's enough. It's enough
for me to rest in Christ. I'm not just satisfied. I'm abundantly
satisfied with the Lord Jesus Christ. This I know because of
the man's description we saw in those first five or four verses.
I know this. I'm not worthy of the least of
God's mercy. Not worthy of the least of it.
But in every danger, toil and snare, my heart can be calm. because God gives mercy to everybody. His mercies are always great.
You know, nearly every epistle in the New Testament begins this
way. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, from our
Lord Jesus Christ. I'll tell you why all those epistles
begin that way. Because everything we need is
found in God's mercy. Everything we need is found in
God's grace and his mercy to sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ. God's mercy abundantly satisfies
the need of his people. Great sinners can only be saved
in abundant mercy. Mercy that satisfies. All right, here's the fifth thing
about God's mercy. God's mercy brings eternal life
in Christ. Verse nine. For with thee is
the fountain of life. In thy light shall we see light. All life is in Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the source. He's the fountain of all life.
He is the life of his people. And David describes life here
in two ways, with water and with life. First, Christ is the water
of life. When his people are born again,
they receive a fountain of living water in the soul. And then our
Lord told that Samaritan woman, he told her, whoever drink of
the water that I shall give, So never thirst again. The water
that I give will be a well of water springing up in him into
everlasting life. Our sinner is interested in that. That's the only way I can have
life. Well, where can I get that water? Well, our Lord tell that
woman. He tells the same thing to me.
I that speak unto thee, Christ is the water of life. Then go
to Christ. Are you thirsty? Our Lord said,
if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Let him come
unto me. God's mercy says, come, drink
all you want. There is life to be had in the
Christ, the water of life. God's mercy leads us to that
water. Then David talks about light.
He hadn't changed subjects. The subject is still Christ.
Christ is the light of this world. Now, light means both life and
understanding. The only way we can see, the
only way we can understand and have life is in Christ. And we can't see, we can't understand
Christ, we can't understand salvation by the natural light that's in
us, by the light of our understanding. You all are smart people. I mean,
the things that you all go out in the world and do, you're smart
people. But with all your human intelligence,
you can't figure it out, can you? You can't figure out the
gospel in all of your human intelligence. And listen, I know what I'm talking
about. I used to, when I was a young
fella, fancy myself to be pretty bright, pretty smart. Now, it
wasn't real difficult to understand the ABCs of the gospel. I had
good teachers. I mean, it just wasn't difficult
to understand What God's Word says, how God
saves sinners, that God's holy, that man's lost. It's not difficult
to understand. But why couldn't I understand
it? Why couldn't I believe it? I mean, I understood that those,
I understood that's what that says. But why didn't I love it? Why couldn't I believe it? Why
was the new life there? Because Christ wasn't there.
David says here, in thy light shall we see light. The only
way we can understand the gospel, the only way we can have life
is through Christ the light, the light that Christ gives.
He doesn't just come and turn a light on. He is the light. When he appears, we say, oh, now I see. And not only do I
see that, not only do I understand that, I believe it. I can't not
believe it if I see Christ in His light. I've told you this
many times. I've always, always, from the
time I could understand language, I've always been a five-point
Calvinist. Always. I always believed in
total depravity. In your total depravity. I always
believed that. But in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ, now
I say, Oh, now I see. In His light, the light of who
He is, now I see I'm totally depraved. Woe is me. I'll put
my hand over my mouth and shut up. Now I see. When I see Christ,
I understood the ABCs of redemption. I saw Christ. In His light, who He is, now
I see how God saves sinners. Now I see how can God save a
sinner like me. It's in Him. In His light, we
see light. In Him, we have light. That's
mercy. That's mercy that saves a sinner. But our psalms are not open. Here's the third thing. God has
mercy on His people. In His mercy, there's salvation.
But the third thing David has here is a description of prayer.
The prayer for mercy. Verse 10. O continue thy loving
kindness unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to
the upright in heart. Lord, thank you. Thank you for
all your mercies to me. But don't leave me now. That's
what David's saying. Thank you for all your mercies
to me, but don't shut off that fountain just yet. No. I need
your mercy every second. Thank God that you've saved me
by your mercy, but now keep me by your mercy. Don't take your
mercy from us. Lord, keep me in your eternal
love for your people. Don't leave me alone. Lord, keep
me righteous. Keep me holy in Christ. Don't
leave me alone or I'll surely fall away. Keep me safe from
the men of this world. I know David there, he means
other But I tell you the one he means mostly. Keep me from
this man of flesh I carry around with me. Verse 11. Let not the
foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked
remove me. Lord, keep me from following
the way of pride that's in my flesh. Boy, our flesh is proud,
just proud. Lord, keep me from that pride.
Keep me from the pride of thinking I can stand on my own two feet.
Now the Lord saved me. He's taught me all this. Now
I'm just fine. I'm self-sufficient. Lord, keep
me from that pride. Keep me from pride that would
flatter me into thinking I know it all. I got it all figured
out now. That I don't need the Lord anymore. Keep me from pride
of grace. Keep me humble. Keep me humble. So I'll always depend upon Christ.
And don't let the wicked remove me. Now he cannot be talking
about the wicked men of the world. Because we just saw he talked
about God's mercy being like those mountains that's unmovable.
The wicked are not going to touch you. They just cannot take you
away from Christ. No man can pluck them out of
my hand. So he's not talking about the wicked out there coming
in and robbing you away from Christ, is he? Now I'll tell
you who he's talking about. The wicked man we all carry around
with us. Lord, don't let me wickedly depart
from you. Lord, keep me by your grace.
Keep me by your power. And here's the promise that we
have sovereign mercy. I mean, I told you God's mercy
is going to comfort your heart in every, every trial, every
trouble that God's mercy is going to comfort your heart. When we
worry, it's hard telling what I'll do.
I know I would leave the Lord if he'll let me. But here's his
promise. promise of sovereign mercy. Nobody
is able to pluck them from my hand. Nobody can pluck you from
his hand and you can't jump either. You're kept safe in his hand
by his mercy. Lord, don't leave me to myself or I'll surely fall
away. Verse 12, there are the workers
of iniquity falling. They're cast down and they shall
not be able to rise. Lord, keep me by your mercy.
Because if I'm cast down, if I depart, there remains no more
sacrifice for sin. If I depart from Christ, they're
not another savior. Lord, keep me by your mercy.
If Lord bring us to this place, then we'll cry for mercy and
we'll ask him, Lord, keep showing me mercy. Don't take your mercy
from me. That's the best place a sinner can ever be. The Lord
will save his people by his mercy because God's merciful. and he's
gonna keep those people in his mercy. His mercy never changes. Whatever we do, whatever happens
in the world around us will never affect God's mercy to his people. That's the mercy a sinner needs.
That's that mercy that'll save a real sinner. That's the mercy
we need. I pray God he'd show that kind
of mercy to all of us here tonight. Let's bow together in prayer. Our Father, how can we begin
to thank you for your mercy? Human language is simply not
sufficient. But Lord, even though it's weak,
even though it's the weak cry of our heart, we do cry. Thank
you, Lord. Thank you for your mercy. Thank
you for your grace. Thank you that you Blessed your
word all these years, shown mercy to your people, preserved us
and protected us. Father, I pray that you go with
us now. Don't take your mercy from us, but keep showing your
mercy to your people. Keep showering us with your mercy.
Lord, you've been merciful to so many. All of your people,
you've been merciful to them. Lord, would you keep being merciful?
Would you keep calling out your sheep? Would you keep saving
the laws? Call them out, Father. Be merciful. Show them mercy
for your great glory. Your greatest glory, you said,
is showing mercy to sinners. Lord, would you be merciful to
us, we pray. First, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
For his sake, we pray. Give thanks.