In the New Testament there are also a few places where mercy is mentioned. In most cases, mercy is mentioned in reference to the situation at the time. Some may ask, "Since the love of God is so precious, why must there be mercy? Love is very good as the source, and grace is also very good as the result. Why then is there the need for mercy?" It is because man is destitute. We have no courage to go to God and ask for His love. We are of the flesh and do not know God well enough. Although God has revealed Himself to us in the light, we still do not dare come close to Him. We feel that it is impossible for us to go to God and ask for love. At the same time, we do not have the adequate faith to go to Him and ask for grace, telling Him that we need such and such a blessing. We have no way to ask for God's love, and we do not have enough faith to ask for God's grace.

But thank the Lord. Not only do we have love and grace; we also have mercy. Love is manifested in this mercy. Because God is merciful, if you hear the gospel and are still unable to believe, you can cry, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" You may be afraid to ask about other things, but you need not be afraid to ask this one thing. I dare not ask the Lord to be gracious to me. I dare not ask Him to love me. But I can ask Him to be merciful to me. For other things we dare not ask. But we can be bold to ask for mercy. God is pleased with this. God has placed His love among us so that we would have the right to come to Him. But if there were only love, we would still be afraid to come to God. Since God is also merciful, we are able to come to Him. I dare not ask God to love me, nor do I dare ask Him to show grace. But I can ask God for mercy. I can at least ask for that.

Last year I met a man who was very old and was suffering from a serious illness. When he saw me he cried. He told me that he was not bitter toward God, but that he was indeed in much pain. I told him that he should ask God to love him and be gracious to him. He said that he could not do this. When I asked him why not, he answered that for sixty years he had been living for himself and not for God. Now that he was dying, he would be ashamed to ask God to love him and be gracious to him. Had he not been so far away from God, had he drawn closer to God during the past few decades, had he developed some affection for God, it would have been easier for him to ask for love and grace. But such as he was, away from God his whole life, how could he ask God to love him as he lay on his deathbed? In spite of my persuasion, he would not believe my words. I told him that God could grant grace to him, that He could be gracious to him and could love him. But he simply could not believe it. I went to see him many times, but I could not get through. Then I prayed, "O God, here is a man who will not believe in You. Nor will he believe in Your love. I have no way to help him. Please open up a way for him in his last hour." Later I felt that I should not speak to him about grace, nor about love, but only about mercy. I went to him again rejoicingly. I said to him, "You should forget about everything now. Forget about the love of God or the grace of God. You should go to God and say to Him, 'God! I am suffering. I have no way to go on. Have mercy on me.'" Immediately he agreed. And as soon as he agreed, his faith came and he prayed, "God, I thank You that You are a merciful God. I am weak and suffering. Have mercy on me." Here you see a person being brought to the presence of the Lord. He realized his destitute situation and asked for mercy. In his present condition, he asked God to be merciful to him.