A Prayer For Mercy

"We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act!" This was a prayer of Daniel. Maybe it's because I read these verses on the first day of December that it seemed to me God answered this prayer on Christmas.

Daniel was a prophet who sought the mercy of God. In the Christmas story there is another prophet who was sent to proclaim God's mercy. "And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,to give knowledge of salvation to his people in forgiveness of their sins,because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." These were the words of Zechariah concerning his son John.

There was darkness the night of Jesus' birth. I know this because the Scriptures teach that the shepherds were out in the field,keeping watch over their flocks by night. I wonder if any of these would have been used as a sacrifice for the sins of the people? A Christmas carol portrayed it this way:"Hark! the herald angels sing, "Glory to the new-born King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild; God and sinner reconciled." This came to pass not because we were righteous but because of God's mercy.

I know many people suffer from depression this time of year. My prayer for them is similar to Zechariah's. I pray that they would become aware of the tender mercies of God. I pray that those who sit in darkness would be visited with the sunrise from on high and be given light. Again using the words of a Christmas carol: All ye, beneath life's crushing load, Whose forms are bending low, Who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow, Look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing: O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing!

Lord Jesus, truly it was not our righteousness that brought you to be our Savior, it was your tender mercy. My heart sings with the angels. You, O Lord, listened! O Lord, you forgave! You heard and you acted! You are Emmanuel, you are with us! You are Jesus who takes away the sins of the world!
That is Mercy!