December 19, 2019 -- Psalm 119:77 -- Unsought Mercy, Great Delight

Let your tender mercy come to me, that I may live,

for your law is my delight.

Psalm 119:77 English Standard Version

The word “tender mercies” is also the Hebrew word “womb”. You get the sense that tender mercies are safety, warmth, blessing and protection given to us from the LORD. The Psalmist is hungry for such mercies. The Hebrew is quite explicit—Let Your tender mercies enter into me. It would not be enough for the Mighty and Merciful God of Heaven and Earth to bring His tender mercies near to me, I would not even have the strength, or the wisdom, to drag myself near to these mercies. Inspired by the Spirit of God, the writer of psalm understands that the One Who is Mercy and Compassion, brings His tender mercy right into the chambers of our love-starved hearts.

Such tender mercies are life for the psalm-writer. The expression that I may live is the verb which the LORD uses for His Name: I AM THAT I AM. When the tender mercies of the LORD enter into us we live in Him. It is exactly what happens when the Spirit of God takes hold of us. The life of Jesus and His death and His resurrection take hold of us, are applied to us and we live. There is no other life. There is no other place of hope. We have no other plea but the life of Jesus.

Notice the link between the tender mercies of God entering us and then finding His law to be our delight. If the Spirit of God is not within us we cannot find delight in the law of God. Without God directly governing our hearts and showing us His tender mercies we would find Him a tyrant. In fact, we would borrow the breath He gives us for our lungs and the tongue He fashioned and gave us in order to curse Him and accuse Him. Unthinking, unwise and ungrateful creatures that we are, such actions would not even strike us as ironic.

However, when the tender mercies of God are formed in us, and we realize we live and move and have our being in Him, then His laws are our delight. We realize He has given these to us as boundary markers for joy and protection. We see each one as His glorious protection surrounding us—external evidences of His love which the Spirit confirms to our hearts and minds as we experience His mercy.

You have fashioned and made us, Father in heaven, Faithful Creator. You know our capacity for evil. By Your Spirit You restrain us from rushing headlong to our own destruction. Who is a God like You?! You pour into us the tender mercy You have shown so extravagantly in Jesus. Teach us the glory of confessing our sins, emptying ourselves in order to receive the riches prepared for us. Even in this, Spirit of God, we need You to hold up the Word of God as a mirror, showing us our sin and instructing us in the way of righteousness. The way of life and hope and fullest delight. Thank You for Your steadfast, patient love and wondrous salvation. Amen.