Most Merciful and Gracious

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Joshua

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Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? - Zechariah 1.12​

Those who are prone to despairing thoughts of the Lord's mercies should flee to the comfort of this verse. Christ here intercedes and asks not the Father, "Mightest Thou have mercy on thy people?" but rather, "How long wilt thou NOT have mercy on [Thy people]?!" as if to say, "Why tarriest Thou any longer, O Thou great and merciful God of Thy people?" When weighted down by the guilt of our own sins, and sorely compounded by those whispering and despairing accusations of the devil, we might be reticent to think so boldly, but not our Lord Jesus Christ. No, He knew His coming work, and the efficacy thereof, and the sure mercies of David that would be procured for His people thereby, and intercedes here as such. The natural man might flee as Adam did at first, but the regenerate man (though rightly downcast because of and bewailing with great grief for his sins) must look to the promises of the Gospel -trusting neither in the goodness of his own filthy-ragged righteousness, nor the sincerity and depth of his penitence- and cry out for mercy, expecting its inevitable arrival because of the sureness of the Covenant of Grace. This is not to encourage men unto presumption who refuse to repent, but to encourage the tender hearted away from despair and unto Christ.

Westminster Larger Catehcism

Question 7:
What is God?

God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, every where present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.​
 
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