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"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according to the
multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions" (Psa. 51: 1).
After this we have the prayer for cleansing, the acknowledgment of the deep sin into
which David had fallen, and the prayer for restoration; but not until we reach verse 14 do
we find the second great plea. This time however it is not the mercy and lovingkindness
of the Lord that is invoked; David can now say:
"Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue
shall sing aloud of Thy Righteousness" (14).
Here, where David can call the Lord God of his salvation, he advances from
lovingkindness and tender mercy to that which lies close to the heart of the Gospel of
Grace, the fact that God is just at the time that He is the justifier, as the student of
Romans well knows. We must not lightly pass over this initial plea, for even though it be
true that the Lord is `Faithful and just to forgive us our sins', nevertheless the fact that He
planned and provided such a way of escape for poor guilty man cries aloud of His mercy
and His love. David was right in putting mercy foremost. Let us examine his words a
little more closely.
Three different Hebrew words are before us: Mercy chanan, lovingkindness chesed,
and tender mercy rachamim. Very near the prime meaning of the word chanan `mercy'
is the idea of `bestowal', and closely associated is the idea of mere kindness, gratis, and
causeless, as may be seen in the word chinnam, a word closely related to chanan if not
derived from the same root. This can be seen in the following reference:
"Wherefore . . . . . slay David without a cause?" (I Sam. 19: 5).
We are therefore prepared to discover that chanan is translated many times in terms of
`grace' as well as in terms of `mercy' or `pity':
"God hath dealt graciously with me" (Gen. 33: 11).
"He will be very gracious unto thee" (Isa. 30: 19).
In the `reflexive' this word is translated generally `to beseech' or `to make
supplication'.
"I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my
supplication" (Psa. 142: 1).
`Have mercy' therefore fitly opens this Psalm of penitence and plenary grace.
`Lovingkindness' chesed. The basic idea of the word that gives us chesed
`lovingkindness' is something `swelling, abounding, exuberant, bounty or bountiful
fulness'.
"All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field" (Isa. 40: 6).