And now, cries, he, 'GREAT mercy or NO mercy; for little mercy will do me no good'; such a poor creature thus expostulateth the case with God, 'Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee?' (Psa 88:10). Lord, I have destroyed myself, can I live? My sins are more than the sands, can I live? Lord, every one of them is sin of the first-rate, of the biggest size, of the blackest line. Can I live? I never read that expression but once in all the whole Bible; 'For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great' (Psa 25:11). Not that there was but one man in Israel that had committed great iniquities, but because men that have so done, have rather inclined to despair, than to an argument so against the wind. If he had said, Pardon, for they are little, his reason had carried reason in it; but when he saith, Pardon, for they are great, he seems to stand like a man alone. This is the common language, 'if our transgressions be upon us, and we pine away in them, How should we then live?' (Eze 33:10). Or thus, 'Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost, and we are cut off for our parts' (Eze 37:11). Wherefore to such as these, good wishes, tender fingers, and compassion, without GREAT mercy, can do nothing. But behold, O thou man of Israel, thou talkest of great sins; answerable to this, the Scripture speaks of great mercy, and thy great sins are but the sins of a man, but these great mercies are the mercies of a God; yea, and thou art exhorted, even because there is mercy with him, therefore to trust thy soul with him, 'let Israel trust in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy,' great mercy. This, therefore, is a truth of singular consolation, that mercy is with the Lord, that tender mercy is with him, that great mercy is with him, both TENDER and GREAT. What would man have more? But,
Third. As great mercy is with the Lord to encourage us to hope, so this mercy that is great, is RICH. 'God is rich in mercy' (Eph 2:4). There are riches of goodness and riches of grace with him (Rom 2:4; Eph 1:7). Things may be great in quantity and little of value, but the mercy of God is not so. We used to prize small things when great worth is in them; even a diamond, as little as a pea, is preferred before a pebble, though as big as a camel. Why, here is rich mercy, sinner; here is mercy that is rich and full of virtue! a drop of it will cure a kingdom. 'Ah! But how much is there of it?' says the sinner. O, abundance, abundance! For so saith the text—' Let us fall now into the hand of the Lord, for his rich 'mercies are great' (2 Sam 24:14). Some things are so rich, and of such virtue, that if they do but touch a man, if they do but come nigh a man, if a man doth but look upon them, they have a present operation upon him; but the very mentioning of mercy, yea, a very thought of it, has sometimes had that virtue in it as to cure a sin-sick soul. Here is virtuous mercy!
Indeed mercy, the best of mercies, are little worth to a self-righteous man or a sinner fast asleep; we must not, therefore, make our esteems of mercy according to the judgment of the secure and heedless man, but according to the verdict of the Word; nay, though the awakened sinner, he that roareth for mercy all day long, by reason of the disquietness of his heart is the likeliest among sinful flesh, or as likely as another, to set a suitable estimate upon mercy. Yet, his verdict is not always to pass in this matter. None can know the riches of mercy to the full, but he that perfectly knoweth the evil of sin, the justice of God, all the errors of man, the torments of hell, and the sorrows that the Lord Jesus underwent, when mercy made him a reconciler of sinners to God. But this can be known by none but the God whose mercy it is. This is the pearl of great price.
The richness of mercy is seen in several things. It can save from sin, from great sin, from all sin (Titus 3:5; Matt 15:22,28). It can save a soul from the devil, from all devils (Matt 17:15,18). It can save a soul from hell, from all hells (Psa 116:3,5,6). It can hold us up in the midst of all weaknesses (Psa 94:18). It can deliver from eternal judgment (Rom 9:23). Yea, what is it that we have, or shall need, that this virtuous mercy cannot do for us: 'Let Israel hope in the Lord: for which the Lord is RICH mercy,' mercy full of virtue, and that can do great things.
Fourth. As the mercies that are with the Lord are tender, great, and rich, so there is a MULTITUDE of them, and they are called 'manifold,' there is a multitude of these rich and virtuous mercies (Psa 69:13; Rev 9:19). By multitude, I understand mercies of every sort or kind; mercies for this, and mercies for the other malady; mercies for every sickness, a salve for every sore. Some things that are rich and very full of virtue have yet their excellency extending itself but to one, or two, or three things for help, and this is their leanness amid their excellencies. But it is not thus with the mercy of God. Some things that are rich and virtuous are yet so only but at certain seasons, for there are times in which they can do nothing. But it is not so with this tender, great, and rich mercy of God. There are some things, though rich, that are sparingly made use of. But it is not so with this mercy of God. There is a multitude of them, so if one will not, another will. There is a multitude of them, so one or other of them is always in their season. There is a multitude of them, and therefore, it must not be supposed that God is niggardly as to communicate with them.
