Sermon on the Mount...series...Blessed are the merciful

The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch

 

The Beatitudes

    Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.
Matthew 5:7

Again I would like to look at what the 1828 Webster Dictionary has to say about the meaning of the word Mercy:

MER'CY, n. [L. misericordia.]

1. That benevolence, mildness or tenderness of heart which disposes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; the disposition that tempers justice, and induces an injured person to forgive trespasses and injuries, and to forbear punishment, or inflict less than law or justice will warrant. In this sense, there is perhaps no word in our language precisely synonymous with mercy. That which comes nearest to it is grace. It implies benevolence, tenderness, mildness, pity or compassion, and clemency, but exercised only towards offenders. Mercy is a distinguishing attribute of the Supreme Being.

The Lord is long-suffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty. Num.14.

2. An act or exercise of mercy or favor. It is a mercy that they escaped.

I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies. Gen.32.

3. Pity; compassion manifested towards a person in distress.

 

 

This beatitude, just like the prior beatitudes and for that matter all the beatitudes, involve the very important role of the Holy Spirit.
In our own strength and power we do not tend to be very merciful. In fact, in our flesh we tend to be very self - centered. In which case every slight or injustice that comes our way makes us self seeking and many times revengeful. But this is not mercy.

When we allow Jesus Christ to be Lord and Saviour in our lives He provides all that  we need.

    And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.    
Philippians 4:19 

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?   
Micah 6:8

    Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.   
James 1:27

And if you will read Matthew 25:31-45 it basically explains that - "deeds of mercy are presented as being the test of admission to the kingdom of glory." SDA Commentary

"Kind words, looks of sympathy, expressions of appreciation, would be to many a struggling and lonely one as the cup of cold water to a thirsty soul. A word of sympathy, an act of kindness, would lift burdens that rest heavily upon weary shoulders. And every word or deed of unselfish kindness is an expression of the love of Christ for lost humanity."
MOB pg. 23

When I was doing a study on Mercy - I ran across this phrase many, many time:
 "Praise the Lord, For His mercy endures forever."
I don't know about you - but I am very thankful to God's mercy endures forever. Praise be to God!