Depth of Mercy

Depth of mercy! Can there be Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear, Me, the chief of sinners, spare?

I have long withstood His grace, Long provoked Him to His face,
Would not hearken to His calls, Grieved Him by a thousand falls.

I my Master have denied, I afresh have crucified,
And profaned His hallowed Name, Put Him to an open shame.

Jesus, answer from above, Is not all Thy nature love?
Wilt Thou not the wrong forget, Permit me to kiss Thy feet?

Jesus speaks, and pleads His blood! He disarms the wrath of God;
Now my Father’s mercies move, Justice lingers into love.

There for me the Savior stands, Shows His wounds and spreads His hands.
God is love! I know, I feel; Jesus weeps and loves me still.

Now incline me to repent, Let me now my sins lament,
Now my foul revolt deplore, Weep, believe, and sin no more.

Written in the 1700’s, this hymn actually has 13 verses, but I have tried to pare it down to the 7 listed above.   If you would like to read all 13 verses, here’s a link:  http://www.hymnlyrics.org/newlyrics_d/depth_of_mercy.php  

This hymn was written by Charles Wesley and, if you were to read all of the verses, you will notice several “legal” references.  The author refers to Jesus as his Advocate, and while I was reading it I got the mental picture of Jesus “arguing my case,” pleading His blood, and showing His wounds as evidence to the “Court.”  Can you imagine yourself in court trying to justify being pardoned for your sins?  I am sure we could all come up with some good “things” that we have done in our lives (taught Sunday School, paid our tithes, sang solos, witnessed to others, etc.), but when presented with the “evidence” of all our sins, we would be forced to throw ourselves on the mercy of the court.  I like this imagery, and think this hymn is an excellent reminder of our sins being pardoned.

Couple of phrases in this hymn worth commenting on:

• Long provoked Him to His face – In Matthew, the Bible tells us of some of the things the Roman guards did to Christ the week He was  crucified.    Matthew 26:67-68 reads “Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him and said, “Prophesy to us, Christ. Who hit you?” “  In the other gospels, the Bible records soldiers mocking him and taunting him.  In the movie the Passion of the Christ, these scenes really bother me because I think to myself, “Isn’t it enough to endure the physical beatings, the crown of thorns, etc.?  Do you really have to taunt, mock, and provoke Jesus?”  I find it amazing that the Lord remained silent while all of this was going on.  He didn’t respond in judgment, but took their verbal and physical abuse without doing a thing.   In an Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, the Bible says “…As a sheep before its shearers is silent, he did not open his mouth.”  Charles Wesley admits that he, too, provoked God to His face by his actions – “withstood His Grace” and “would not hearken to  His call “.  We can also be guilty of this when we know right, and don’t do it.  Or when we act as if the Lord does not punish for sin when we know He will.   I am thankful that His response to my continued provocation is grace, and not judgment.

• Weep, Believe, and Sin no more – Although I don’t find in Scripture the requirement to “weep” as part of the salvation experience, I find it interesting that the author chooses to include weeping as one of the steps of the conversion process.  I do wonder, however, if one truly understands the experience of being forgiven, and truly comprehends how sinful we are, and how great a salvation we have received, if weeping would be a natural result of that experience.  When we have truly lamented our sins and truly repented for what we have done, I think weeping and believing will go hand-in-hand.  Maybe the fact that we continue in sin (“sin no more” as the author refers to) is due in part to the fact that we truly have not wept over our own offenses.

In the 1970’s, the Bee Gee’s had a hit song entitled “How deep is your love?”  This was a song about romantic love, but unfortunately, romantic love is one of the more “shallow” kinds of love.  That kind of love is typically based upon emotion, feeling, or physical appearance.  It is not a consistent, forgiving, Biblical example of love.  On the other hand, God’s love is completely different.  His love does not depend on what we do, or how we act.  He loved us “while we were yet sinners.”  Charles Wesley desired to know the depth of God’s love and mercy, and prayed that it was deep enough to save someone like him.  Paul prayed to the Ephesian church that they might be able “to grasp how wide, and long, and high and deep” is the love of Christ.  Maybe a better hymn title would be “Width, Length, Heighth, and Depth of Mercy” because His Grace is all those things.  It is wide enough to reach across the globe, and save people from all nations.  It is long-suffering enough to endure the sins of someone who rejects Christ his entire life, but is saved on his deathbed.  It is high enough that there is no place we can go to escape His love.  Psalm 139:8 says “If I go up to the heavens, you are there.  If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”  And finally, it is deep enough that it can cover the sins of “the chief of sinners.”

I’ll close this week with the words of a song you probably sang growing up – “Deep and Wide.  Deep and Wide.  There’s a fountain flowing Deep and Wide.”  Take this simple truth found in the words of a children’s song, and be reminded of how deep (and wide) is God’s mercy and love for you and for others around you – including the unbelievers.