There’s this phrase that is voiced in multiple Psalms and later in the Gospels we hear it spoken as people drew near to Jesus. A Canaanite woman in need, a father crying out for his son, unnamed blind men approached Jesus with this phrase on their lips, Bartimaeus calls through the crowd and my personal favorite from Luke 18.

⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ ¹³ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Two men stand on holy ground, approaching the God who can forgive and make new. The first has made a life of knowing this God, the second has made a life of taking from this God’s people. The second man is broken over his condition while the first is puffed up over his. My desire is to be like the second, but my concern is that I’m like the first. Lord have mercy. This God who forgives all my sins delights in showing mercy. Christ have mercy.

This short phrase has continued on in Christian traditions throughout the world in a variety of services and liturgies. You are probably quite familiar:

As you listen to this song, I pray that you are able to reflect on the great mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord bless you and keep you this morning. May he make his abundant love known to you. May you rest in His forgiveness.