Seeking the Mercies of God

Tuesday May 5, 2026

Seeking the mercies of God.  I begin the blog today with a truth from God’s Word before we highlight some of our daily reading today.  God’s Word states, “It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23).  We know that God is merciful, but do we seek His mercies?  I believe if we know that He is merciful, then we should seek His mercies.  I was reminded of this as I read Israel’s prayer to God as part of our daily reading.  “Look down from heaven and see from your lofty home – holy and beautiful.  Where is your zeal and your might?  Your yearning and your compassion are withheld from me.  Yet you are our Father, even though Abraham does not know us and Israel doesn’t recognize us.  You, Lord, are our Father; your name is our Redeemer from Ancient Times.  Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways?  You harden our hearts so we do not fear you.  Return, because of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.  Your holy people had a possession for a little while, but our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.  We have become like those you never ruled, like those who did not bear your name.  If only you would tear the heavens open and come down, so that mountains would quake at your presence” (Isaiah 63:15-19, Isaiah 64:1).  Again, the prayer goes up, “Yet Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we all are the work of your hands.  Lord, do not be terribly angry or remember our iniquity forever” (Isaiah 64:8).  Israel was not in this place because of God; they were in that place because of their own sin and iniquity.  But now they make a plea to God, their Father, to have mercy and forgive; to not remember their iniquity forever, but to once again have favor upon them.  Going back a couple of chapters, we read, “Do not give him rest until he establishes and makes Jerusalem the praise of the earth” (Isaiah 62:7). 
Do you find yourself in a desert place?  Perhaps you have strayed from the Lord, and even repented, no longer doing that sin that you once did.  Yet, the joy of the Lord is missing; the zeal you once had is gone; the holy desires you once felt have been absent.  Have you sought God for His mercies?  Have you called upon Him as a faithful Father?  Have you cried out to Him?