A Devotion from Charles Finney

I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. —Psalm 52:8

Mercy as an attribute of God is not to be confounded with mere goodness. Goodness may demand the exercise of justice. Mercy asks that justice be set aside. Mercy pardons the guilty. Justice treats all according to their deserts. Desert is never the rule that guides mercy, while it is precisely the rule of justice. Thus, mercy is exercised only where there is guilt.

Mercy can be exercised no farther than one deserves punishment. If great punishment is deserved, great mercy can be shown; if endless punishment is due, there is then scope for infinite mercy.

None can properly be said to trust in the mercy of God unless they have committed crimes and are conscious of this fact. Justice protects the innocent, and they may appeal to it. But for the guilty, nothing remains but to trust in mercy. Trusting in mercy implies a heartfelt conviction of personal guilt.

Trust in mercy implies understanding what mercy is. Many confuse mercy with grace, considered as mere favor to the undeserving. Grace may be shown where there is no mercy, the term mercy being applied to the pardon of crime. We all know that God shows grace to all on earth. He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends his rain on the unrighteous as well as on the righteous. But to trust in this general favor is not trusting in the mercy of God. Mercy is pardon for the crimes of the guilty.

Trust in God’s mercy implies a belief that he is merciful. We could not trust him if we had no such belief. This belief must lie at the foundation of trust. Faith, or belief, includes a committal of the soul to God and a trust in him.

Trusting in the mercy of God forever implies a conviction of deserving endless punishment. When therefore the psalmist trusts in the mercy of God forever he renounces all hope of being ever received to favor on the score of justice.

Trusting in mercy implies a cessation from all excuse making. The moment you trust in mercy, you give up all excuses, for these imply a reliance on God’s justice. An excuse is nothing more nor less that an appeal to justice, a plea designed to justify our conduct. Trusting in mercy forever implies that we have ceased from all excuses forever.