Mercy & Truth

I truly believe that the word of God is full of strategies for everything.  We only have to pray and seek it out.  Sometimes the answer may come quickly, others may take a bit more prayer and even fasting, but it is there.  Then when you get that strategy and break it down into applicable pieces for your situation, then you are responsible to steward it.  That means, you must do it. 

Procrastination is a killer and one of Satan’s most effective tools.  When we receive and understand these strategies they may seem a bit overwhelming, but if we dig in, determine to do it, and not procrastinate or quit, we will see the overwhelming results.

But here is something that is a basis for a strategy that we need to explore. 

Psalms 89:14-18
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Unfailing love (mercy)  and truth walk before you as attendants.
15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,
for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.
16 They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.
They exult in your righteousness.
17 You are their glorious strength.
It pleases you to make us strong.
18 Yes, our protection comes from the LORD,
and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.
 
While this may not look like your standard strategy, let me dig in and explain.  But the key verse we are looking at is 14;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.
 
When studying this verse, the Matthew Henry commentary quotes Charles Spurgeon, saying “Mercy and truth are heralds, they are in the person of Jesus called to the front (of the throne) to deal with the guilty and mercy paves the way to avoid the swift destruction that would come from being in His presence.”
Mercy and Truth stand before the Throne for those who approach and pave the way, so the awesomeness of God doesn’t destroy them.

The Old Testament has many references that describe his awesome presence.  Moses knew he would die if he saw the face of God in Exodus and Jacob cried out that his life was spared when he saw God’s face. 

In Hebrews, we read about Christ’s sacrifice and what that does for us.
Hebrews 4
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

But what does the verse in Psalms 89:14 really tell us?

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.
 
Righteousness is rooted in morality, good character, and honor.  It is something we are, not something we do.  So righteous is who God is!  Perfect, blameless, without blemish.

Justice is something that comes from righteousness, doing the right thing.  It’s a legal term where a sentence is pronounced and carried out. 

These two attributes are the foundation of the throne so the one sitting on it must be the judge. 
As Charles Spurgeon tells us, mercy and truth are ‘heralding’ or attending the throne. 

In our humanity, we cannot go to the throne without encountering the thunder and lightning and awe of God, so how do we go boldy?  Through Jesus and his work on the cross and the truth of who He is, and the mercy of the Holy Spirit.  You see, we cannot get to righteousness and justice without going through these two.

I liken Truth to Jesus because He tells us

John 14:6 
Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
We have to go through Jesus to get to the one on the throne.  But what about mercy.  Mercy is one of the gifts of the spirit we see in Romans.  I believe Mercy is one of the best representations of the Holy Spirit. 
You see mercy steps in, that unfailing love, that regardless of what we do will step in and show us that there is always hope.  The Holy Spirit calls you to him, essentially to Jesus.  That is mercy, something we do not deserve.

As we approach the throne, with whatever boldness we can muster, the mercy of Holy Spirit gives us the hope and the truth of Jesus brings revelation.  They herald or announce us to Father god and as we know, intercede on our behalf.

Romans 8:26
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.

And then

Romans 8:34
Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Now how is this a strategy?  Well first of all, when you need righteousness or justice, you go to the heralds.  It’s that simple, go to Jesus for truth, which will give you access to the righteousness and go to Holy Spirit, which gives us the mercy to receive the Justice of God, whether we deserve it or not.

Remember, righteousness and Justice are the foundations of the throne.  God is the judge.  So, like bailiffs in a court announcing who is next, Jesus and Holy Spirit as Truth and Mercy are announcing our approach and pleading on our behalf so His presence won’t wipe us out.  That is the only way to “come boldly to the throne of our gracious God” (Hebrews 4:16)

But the rest of Psalms 89 tells us what happens after:
 
15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,
for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.
16 They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.
They exult in your righteousness.
17 You are their glorious strength.
It pleases you to make us strong.
18 Yes, our protection comes from the LORD,
and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.

So there is no fear, no hesitation, just boldly going, knowing we will be accepted.