Mercy, Hope, and Godly Fear

Today I would like to take a short look at something that is at the very heart of the faith, and will be IN the hearts of those who are faithful till the end of their lives. In fact this element of the faith can and will save the elect of God, and usher them into eternal life with Jesus. It can actually be summed up in two verses from the Psalms: “He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy” (Psm. 147:10,11). Actually these verses show us not only what WILL save those whose faith in God is both real and true, but they also show us what will NOT save anyone. What will NOT save anyone is their own merit or strength, nor the power of any earthly means, as is conveyed in the first verse of our text. We might elaborate on that point momentarily with another powerful quote from the great prophet Jeremiah: “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited” (Jer. 17:5,6). The truth is that unless you trust FULLY in God, you WILL end up trusting in something else, and there is nothing else TO trust in but yourself or some earthly means. That is what Jesus was alluding to in this saying: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Mat. 6:24). That is why the apostle Paul made the following statement of profound truth for the ages: “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Tim. 6:10). If you substitute the word ‘trust’ for the word ‘love’ in this saying, you will see the truth of the matter. And the truth of the matter is that if one’s heart does not COMPLETELY trust in God in all things, it WILL trust in money, because money is the means of exchange for all things that we have need of to live in this world. So what is the remedy to avoid being entrapped by the “love [trust] of money”? “But seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [earthly needs] shall be added unto you” (Mat. 6:33).

That brings us back to our text passage, and the second verse, which again says; “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” The only reason anyone is going to truly put seeking the “kingdom of God, and his righteousness,” above everything else in their life, is if they know that they HAVE to do so in order to be saved. It really is that simple. Don’t misunderstand me, as I am not saying it is a grievous thing to put God truly first in your life, because the truth is there is nothing more gloriously wonderful once you have made it the fabric of your life to do so (I Jn. 5:3). The point I am making is that for “them that fear him,” it is an evident truth that apart from true holiness of the heart and soul, “no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). Those who truly fear God the way they should, understand the absoluteness of the wise proverb that says; “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23). Reason being that the elect of God are without question about the reality that “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (II Cor. 5:10). And the “things done [while] in his body” are “the issues of life” mentioned in the quoted proverb. So those who are of a faithful heart understand very clearly that whatever condition they keep their hearts in will be the condition of the “issues of [their] lives,” which they will be judged in accordance with. That is where the part of “hoping in his mercy” comes in, and is inseparable from the true fear of the Lord. Those who really know God, know that they did not draw themselves to him to begin with, and that they cannot continue to go forward with him in “righteousness and true holiness” unless he continues to draw them unto himself (Jn. 6:44; Rom. 9:15,16; Eph. 4:24). So they understand the scripture very well that says, “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Rom. 8:24,25). They realize that unless God mercifully continues to give them holy conviction, they have no way possible to “purify [themselves] even as he is pure,” which they know to be the ONLY way to obtain salvation, which is to say the resurrection of the dead (I Jn. 3:2,3; I Pet. 1:7,9; Eph. 4:4; I Thess. 5:8; Acts 23:6). So God’s elect children know that they have every reason to “fear him… and to hope in his mercy.” And that is exactly what they do, especially in light of scriptures like the following: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mat. 24:12,13). Amen.