Delighting in Mercy

“Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?  He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy.”  Micah 7:18

Micah was an Old Testament prophet who lived in the eighth century B.C. during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  Like Isaiah, he prophesied about the invasion of Israel by the Assyrians and the captivity of Judah by the Babylonians.  Interestingly enough, his name means “who is like Yahweh?”(the Hebrew pronunciation of Jehovah).  Not much is known about Micah, but from his writing we can see that he must have been a loyal servant of the LORD.

In ancient times, names meant something.  Sometimes a name would actually foretell a person’s future.  This verse was written as a praise to God for there is no god like Jehovah.  Only He can pardon sins and cleanse a sinner as if he had never sinned.  God is angry at sin because of the harm it does to people, but His mercy is greater than His anger.

Because of His compassion, He made a way whereby sinners could be reconciled back to Him.  Giving One’s only Son to die for all of us sinners could only be done by Someone with unlimited mercy and love.  As we come once again upon the Christmas season, it is a good time to reflect on God’s mercy and love.  Allowing an only Son to come to earth as a baby, watching Him grow into manhood, seeing how He served and honored His Father and ministered unto the people, all the while knowing that His sinless and perfect Son would have to suffer a horrible death in order to fulfill His Father’s plan of man’s redemption must have weighed heavily on God’s heart.  That is a love that cannot be measured.

Where would we be without God’s mercy?  I don’t even want to think about that.