A wealth of information about the nature and character of God is revealed in these two verses of Scripture. The Lord is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. The phrase, "full of compassion" could also be translated merciful. In other words, many times "mercy" and "compassion" are interchangeable words in the Scriptures. To be merciful means to be full of compassion. God is full of compassion, and the Bible says He is of great mercy.
God performed many signs and wonders when He delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. But the Israelites didn't understand God's miraculous works, nor did they remember the multitude of His mercies. You see, many people think of God's mercy only in relation to salvation for sinners. Thank God, His mercy is extended to sinners, and sinners can be saved if they will believe on and call on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, there's more to God's mercy than just the provision of salvation for sinners. The Psalmist said, "They remembered not the MULTITUDE of thy mercies" (Ps. 106:7). God's mercies were shown in the wonders and miracles He performed in delivering the Israelites out of Egypt where they had been held captive. The psalmist called those wonders God's mercies. These mercies also include all of God's provisions.
The Bible says the Lord never changes (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8). He's the same now as He was in the Old Testament. And if God was gracious and merciful to the children of Israel, He will be gracious and merciful to His born-again children today. To be merciful is the same as being full of compassion. And since God was full of compassion then, He will be full of compassion now, because God never changes.
We also know God's mercy encompasses more than just the forgiveness of sins because in Psalm 59:16, David called deliverance from his enemy, Saul, God's mercy. So we know God's deliverance is also a manifestation of His mercy. In this Psalm, David was talking about deliverance from Saul, but I don't know of a crueler enemy to mankind than Satan, sin, sickness, and disease.
If we're not careful, we will interpret this verse only in light of the forgiveness of sins. Certainly, if we sin or fail, God's mercy is available to restore us. God will have mercy on us and forgive us if we repent for our sins and ask for His forgiveness. But we can see from the other scriptures we read that God's mercy encompasses more than just the forgiveness of sins. God's mercy encompasses material and physical provisions as well as spiritual blessings. When the scripture said, "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy," (Heb. 4:16), it wasn't just talking about receiving forgiveness. It was also talking about obtaining healing, strength, help, deliverance in time of trouble, or whatever it is we need from God.
In the New Testament we see again that God is the Father of mercies, not just the Father of mercy. If God's mercy only included the forgiveness of sins, then God would be the God of mercy. But, thank God, He is the God of mercies, and all of His mercies are available to us today!
God's eyes can see throughout the whole earth! And the Bible says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth so He can show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him. Many people have the wrong impression about the nature and character of God because of the lack of correct teaching.
In other words, many people imagine God as some mean fellow sitting up in Heaven with a big flyswatter, so to speak. They think the minute they make a mistake or a wrong move, God is going to swat them! But the Bible says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth so He can show himself strong on behalf of people, not swat them like flies every time they make a mistake! God is the God of mercies. Our text says, "The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works" (Ps. 145:8,9).
If you want to know the character of God, look at Jesus. Jesus said, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14:9). Looking at the miracles of Jesus in the Gospels, we see over and over again how Jesus was moved with compassion toward suffering humanity. Healing, too, is a manifestation of God's mercy. In Mark 1:41 it says that Jesus was moved with compassion and healed the leper. The word "compassion" could also mean pity or tender mercy. One dictionary definition of "mercy" is a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion. In other words, compassion or mercy was what motivated Jesus to heal that leper and make him clean again.
If you will begin to see healing as a mercy of God and not try to base obtaining healing on works or on anything else but your faith in God's mercy, you will make progress in your Christian walk with God. Remember the Bible says, "The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works." (Ps. 145:9) It is God's disposition to be gracious, to be full of compassion, to be slow to anger, and to be of great mercy. "For he is good; for HIS MERCY ENDURETH FOR EVER" (2 Cor. 5:13).
Many times in my own meetings I have found that in magnifying God's mercy, especially His healing mercy, I would see the glory of God just as the Israelites did. I would see the glory cloud in the back of the auditorium come rolling in like ocean waves.
I particularly remember one meeting I held in Colorado when the glory cloud was evident. I was ministering to the sick by the laying on of hands when suddenly I saw a cloud come rolling into the auditorium. I knew from the Scriptures and from experience that it was the glory of God. So I stopped ministering to the people and stepped back onto the platform. After I closed that meeting and came back to Tulsa, I received a letter from a woman who had attended the meeting with her husband. She said her husband had had a severe heart condition, and that heart specialists had told them, medically speaking, he was beyond help. Doctors could do nothing more for this man, and they said he wouldn't live much longer because of the heart disease.
This man went back to the heart specialist after the meeting for an examination, and the heart specialist told him, "Somebody up there likes you because you've got a brand-new heart!" The woman who wrote me the letter, said, "My husband is a brand-new man. He's not only new physically because God healed his heart, but he's also new spiritually! He's been born again!" You see, you can't come in contact with the mercy of God without His mercy affecting your life. And, thank God, His mercy reaches every area of our lives. The Lord is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works!
When you come in contact with God, you come in contact with His mercies. And you can receive whatever it is you need from your Heavenly Father because God is the Father of mercies!
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications
Rev. Hagin served in Christian ministry for nearly 70 years and was known as the "father of the modern faith movement." His teachings and books are filled with vivid stories that show God's power and truth working in his life and the lives of others.
