What does it mean that God is merciful?
Mercy as an Attribute of God's Own Nature
When Scripture declares that God is merciful, it is pointing to something deeply rooted in who God is — not merely in what He does. Mercy is not a policy God adopted; it is part of His very character, revealed when sin entered the world.
G. V. Wigram addresses this directly in his lecture on Ephesians 2:4:
G. V. WigramIt was the subject of mercy I wished to speak of. To my own soul it is very simple, when we see whence it comes from. It is an attribute of God Himself. There are two things about Satan in direct contrast to God. God cannot lie; Satan has been a liar from the beginning. God delights in creating; Satan in pulling everything to pieces: he has pleasure in destroying. If we take the question of mercy, whence came it? Who but God can look in upon the universe, and pick up things He finds in a state that He hates and abhors?
And further:
RichMercMercy is an attribute of God Himself, part of the character of God which showed out when sin came into the world.
Mercy Looks at Our Need, Grace at God's Heart
A key distinction in Scripture is that mercy and grace, while closely connected, are not identical. Mercy looks downward at the misery of the one who needs it; grace looks at the character and heart of the One who gives it.
Morrish's Bible Dictionary captures this distinction precisely under the entry for Grace:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryGrace refers more to the source and character of the sentiment; mercy to the state of the person who is its object. Grace may give me glory; mercy contemplates some need in me. Mercy is great in the greatness of the need; grace in the thought of the person exercising it.
L. M. Grant develops this in his paper Grace, Mercy, and Peace:
L. M. GrantMercy is that tender compassion of God toward the deep need of the soul in its circumstances of misery or of guilt. Mercy can forgive, and delights to do so.
He then draws the contrast with grace:
GracemerIf in mercy God has looked upon us and given life when we were dead in sins, His grace has gone further still, conferring upon us favour that lifts us far above all our former circumstances, saving us, delivering into a realm of perfect joy and peace, circumstances of heavenly blessing, in Christ. This is more than compassionate mercy. For a mere humanitarian could show mercy to another who was in dire circumstances, clothe him, feed him, perhaps give him work — but to take him to his own home as his own son and invest him with his own wealth would be a far different matter. This is what grace does. It not only forgives: it provides abundant blessing on a far higher level than the circumstances out of which it delivers.
"Rich in Mercy" — Because of His Great Love
The great statement of God's mercy is Ephesians 2:4: "God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ."
G. V. Wigram explains:
G. V. WigramGod's thought was to deal with the Son of His love. ... Then in these verses we get the contrast in man; all the evil of nature, the world, and Satan is brought out. What can God do? He acts in His free grace towards the Son of His love, and mercy comes out, which is a different principle from grace. Grace is free gift. God took notice of the merits of His Son; mercy rather takes notice of demerit. Man deserves — what? I can only say of myself, I deserve to be left alone. But there is an antagonistical principle in God to that; He is rich in mercy. He does not look for any good in the creature; He bestows His love freely.
L. M. Grant traces mercy back to its source:
L. M. GrantLet us observe here that God's rich mercy is because of His great love. Love is His very nature, and love acts in mercy toward a wretched sinner, even when dead in sins, moving God's heart to work in the most helpful way possible.
The Mercy Seat — Where God Meets Man
In the Old Testament, God's mercy found its supreme expression in the mercy seat — the golden lid of the ark of the covenant, where the blood of atonement was sprinkled. This mercy seat is a type of Christ Himself.
Morrish's Bible Dictionary explains:
Morrish's Bible DictionaryThe place for the mediator to receive divine communications from God, and for the high priest to approach with the blood of atonement, was the mercy seat. It is typical of Christ, the same word being used in the N.T. for the mercy seat in the tabernacle and for the Lord Himself, "whom God hath set forth to be a mercy seat," ἱλαστήριον. Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:5.
F. B. Hole draws out the significance:
F. B. HoleWhat the mercy seat was in this typical system, this region of shadows, the Lord Jesus is in the great reality itself. The mercy seat was the place where God met with man and He is the One in whom God has put Himself into touch with men in a manner and degree altogether unknown before. All, too, has become effective "in His blood" just as the "mercy seat" only became effectively a seat of mercy because of the sprinkled blood. Otherwise it would have speedily proved itself to be a seat of judgment.
This is a profound point: God's mercy is not a bare overlooking of sin. The mercy seat without blood would have been a seat of judgment. Mercy flows to sinners through the death of Christ, where God's righteousness and His love meet perfectly.
The Sovereignty of Mercy
God's mercy is also sovereign — it originates entirely within Himself. When Israel made the golden calf and utterly renounced Jehovah, God declared to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy" (Exodus 33:19).
F. B. Hole comments:
F. B. HoleThe point is that Israel had lost everything on the basis of strict law, and yet God elected to show mercy and continue with them. Israel had therefore no ground for objecting to God choosing to show mercy to Gentiles in these Gospel days. From the days of the golden calf they owed their own existence to the mercy of God.
G. V. Wigram captures the wonder of this:
G. V. Wigram"Though Israel my people danced before the calf they made, and set me aside, I will bring them back, because I have a heart for them. I will stoop down to them." The motive was from inside His own bosom.
Mercy in Daily Life
Mercy is not only the foundation of salvation — it remains an ongoing reality for the believer. L. M. Grant writes:
L. M. GrantConstantly we need this compassion of His heart that comforts, helps, encourages us when pressures increase and tend to cast down the soul. Is it not wonderful to know the sympathizing, tender care of our Merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God?
And Hamilton Smith, commenting on Psalm 145, notes:
Hamilton SmithThe Lord is gracious, full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. How different to man; and even His own people who too often lack grace and compassion, are quick to anger, and show little mercy.
To say that God is merciful is to say something about who He is, not merely what He does. Mercy is the tender compassion of His heart that reaches down to meet guilty, miserable sinners — not because they deserve it, but because His very nature moves Him toward those in wretchedness. It is distinct from grace: mercy looks at the depth of our need, while grace looks at the riches of what God bestows. Yet the two flow from the same love. God's mercy is not sentimentality — it found its righteous basis at the cross, where Christ was set forth as the mercy seat, the place where God's holiness and His compassion meet in the blood of His Son. And this mercy is sovereign: it originates entirely from within God's own heart. As Wigram put it, "The motive was from inside His own bosom." For the believer, this mercy is not only the ground of salvation but a daily comfort — the tender care of a faithful High Priest who meets us at every point of need.