Bible Verses About Mercy

“Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.””

God introduces himself to Moses as compassionate, gracious, slow to anger and rich in steadfast love. This self-portrait is echoed throughout the rest of Scripture.

“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins or repaid us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.”

David celebrates a Lord who does not treat us as our sins deserve, and compares his compassion to that of a father toward his children. Mercy here is warm, not merely legal.

“Because of the loving devotion of the LORD we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness!”

In the middle of grief, the poet remembers that the Lord's mercies never run out and are new every morning. Mercy is what keeps us from being consumed.

“So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. ’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.”

The father in Jesus's parable sees his wayward son far off, runs to him and welcomes him home with a feast. It is one of the fullest pictures of mercy in the Gospels.

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!”

Paul says God, rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even while we were dead in our failings. Mercy comes before anything we could offer.

“He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?”

The prophet sums up what the Lord asks: act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Mercy is listed as something to love, not just to perform.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Jesus calls the merciful blessed and says they will receive mercy. Our own need for mercy is what makes us gentle with others.

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful, Jesus teaches. God's character is the standard, not the behavior of the people around us.

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”

God says he wants steadfast love more than sacrifice. Religious activity without mercy misses what he is actually asking for.

“For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”

James warns that judgment is merciless toward the person who showed no mercy, and adds that mercy triumphs over judgment. A hard heart carries its own cost.

“Because of this, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlements, a debtor owing ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned. Then the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ So his fellow servant fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. When his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master. Then the master summoned him and said, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed.”

A servant forgiven a huge debt refuses to forgive a small one, and the king calls that unacceptable. The parable ties the mercy we receive to the mercy we give.

““This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’”

The prophet calls people to show mercy and compassion to one another and not to oppress widows, orphans, foreigners or the poor. Mercy has a social shape.

“He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who shows kindness to the poor.”

Whoever despises a neighbor sins, but the person who is kind to the needy is blessed. Contempt is the opposite of mercy.

“And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.”

Believers are told to show mercy to those who doubt and to rescue others with care. Mercy here means patient help for people who are struggling in their faith.

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

We are invited to approach God's throne with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace in time of need. Mercy is available now, not only at the end.