"Lord, Have Mercy!"

Those words were the pleas of three people in the New Testament, all recorded by Matthew—a father and two blind men. Although, we don't know how many times Jesus actually heard these three words, for some reason these are the only three who went on record for crying them out loud.

 

The father said, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and he suffers terribly. For often he falls into the fire, and often into the water." (Matthew 17:15—ESV, NKJ, NLT, NIV, NASB, KJV)

 

And, here is Matthew's account of the two blind men's pleas: "And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:30—ESV, HCSB, NASB) Matthew goes on to record their persistence: "The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” (Matthew 20:31—ESV, HSCB)

 

Robert Gelinas wrote, "Talking to God doesn't require a degree in theology. All you need is three little words."

 

The Psalmists also used these three little words which were then voiced by the people of Israel as they sang the Psalms as prayerful hymns.

 

"Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt." (Psalm 123:3—ESV, NKJ, NIV, AMP, KJV, NLT)

"Lord, have mercy on me. See how my enemies torment me. Snatch me back from the jaws of death." (Psalm 9:13—NLT)

"Lord, have mercy on me. Make me well again, so I can pay them back!" (Psalm 41:10—NLT)

"Hear, O Lord, have mercy and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!" (Psalm 30:10—AMP)

 

God is rich in mercy and has great love for us. This is a revealed truth shown through the work of the cross for us as sinners dead to Him, a work that reached backwards in time as well as forward, to offer mercy to the undeserving, to the blind and the unhearing.  (Ephesians 2:4-5; Romans 5:6-12)

 

These three little words, "Lord, have mercy!" speak volumes. They recognize God's authority, power, and sovereignty. They recognize His compassion on His creation. They recognize His ear to hear and His willingness to answer.

 

May we echo the father's words for his son before the Lord for our own children.

"Lord, have mercy!"