The Mercy of God is Preëminent. “For thy mercy is great above the Heavens.” Ps 108:4

1. 108 Ps.
2. 116 Ps. 2c pr.
3. 117 Ps. 1sr pr.
The Mercy of God Preminent
80807
"For thy mercy is great above the Heavens."
Ps108: 4.
There is an erroneous view adopted by many in
regard to the mercy of God, which confounds
it with His Goodness. Now it is true that there
is no such thing as Mercy conceivable
aside from Goodness:- the very idea of
Mercy implies Goodness. But there most
certainly may be such a thing as goodness
without mercy. The error arises from the
inaccuracy with which we make use of
words to express our views and thoughts.
To clear the subject then of all vagueness,
and indefiniteness, let it be remembered
that mercy always presupposes in the
object toward which it is exercised, the
idea of guilt. Hence it would be wholly

inappropriate to speak of God showing
Mercy to the Good and Innocent. He is Good
to all; He is Good to Angels; He was good
to Adam in Eden; but He does not regard
Angels as objects of Mercy; He did not
regard Adam in his state of innocence as an object of Mercy.
There are two classes of individuals only
who are regarded by the great God with Mercy; they are (1)
his own children, who, even with [all] their
renewal of nature, and partial Sanctification,
are still full of imperfections, and in whom,
that is, in whose flesh "dwelleth no good thing."
They need the constant application of God's
Mercy, and no class [of] is more ready to
acknowledge their need than their and accord
singly their prayer is either; "Let thy mercy be upon
us according as we hope in thee!"

or when overtaken, + overwhelmed by the power
of temptation, they have been forced to cry
out from the depths of their spirit in the
agony of bitter spiritual sorrow: "Have mercy
upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness;
according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies, blot out my transgressions!"
2. The other class to whom mercy can be
extended, is that of the impenitent, quietly + undeserving
sinner. The "Divine Mercy, therefore, is not mere
Divine Goodness." There is then, good reason
why the distinction should be drawn.
Men who are living in their sins, are
constantly confounding the two things,
and are secretly indulging a kind of
vague hope that God is so good that He
will not condemn them, although they

are guilty. Let men learn that Mercy is only
exercised towards the guilty, and that
in a way that is not founded upon
any principle that they can control,
that it is free, and not to be bought,
that it is an act of sovereignity,
dependent only upon God's Will, and
they can then see that it is a condition
full of peril for them to hope in God's
Goodness which they confound with
His Mercy. The goodness of God pervades
all the Universe save one spot; He
would make all HIs creatures happy
except one class; that place is Hell;
that class consists of Devils; in that deep
dark dungeon of Despair His Goodness
does not- will not go; to that lost class

it is not- never will be displayed; there
Hope that visits all the living never
comes; there, mercy that is bestowed upon
the living, erring [?] of men, never enters.
But the mercy of God will be readily
understood when it is known to be "The [Good]
exercise of God's benevolence; [of] His good-will;-
toward those who do not deserve it; +
in especial manner, toward those who
have merited anger and punishment."
So that in the exercise of mercy, there are requisites on both
sides; "there must be unworthiness, and
criminality in the recipient, and goodwill
in the" bestower. Three consequences follow
from this representation of Mercy: 1. Had
Mercy never been exercised toward man,
[all] none of God's attributes would have been dishonored.

2. No injustice would have been done to man.
3. No cry of complaint could ever have come
up from the fathomless depths of
his misery, through the perpetual
duration of his despairing Eternity.
There is however another misconception
in regard to mercy, against which it
were well to guard ourselves. While
we hold up God's mercy as
wonderfully preeminently glorious, there is
danger that we may seem to exalt
this attribute at the expense of all
the rest. The danger does not affect the
true children of God. They are not the
persons who exalt God's Mercy above HIs
Justice, Holiness and Truth. It is the
impenitent sinner who does this, and the

direct result of such a view of God's
mercy is to make it appear that Sin
is a small evil; that prayer is unnecessary;
that God "is indifferent to his laws;" that
God's Justice may be set aside; that He
is not so terrible in His wrath against the
evil doer as He is represented. All this
arises from false views of Mercy; making
it so entirely to absorb the Divine Xter.
that he has left no room for the exercise
of Justice, Holiness + Truth; and turning
His Eternal Moral Good into a scene
of anarchy; and giving to Mercy such a
licentiousness as would convert the
world into a Pandemonium, and thus
instead of being mercy, it would be
the hight of unkindness + cruelty.

Let us therefore be understood fairly
in the utterance of the proposition
that "God's Mercy is Preeminent."
We detract not a hair's weight from
the grandeur + Glory + excellence of His other Attributes. There
let them stand in all their sublime and
unapproachable magnificence, as the
distinctive traits of the inconceivable God.
His Wisdom is infinite; His Power is
infinite; His Holiness is infinite; His
Justice is infinite; His Truth is infinite;
How then can we form any conception
of Mercy higher than this? This quality
of Infinity admits of no degrees;- one
thing cannot be more Infinite than
another; Each therefore is to be understood
as occupying its own Infinite, eternal, +

unchangeable sphere, and while each is
of the other independent, yet at the same
time, all combine most harmoniously
to make up the Glorious Xter of that
almighty Being whom we hold to be God.
But for all this, we hold also that there
is a peculiar grandeur and glory about
God's Mercy that belongs to no other, of
His attributes. For example, By way of explanation of this position we remark God's
Omnipotence has one sort of eminence, but it is
that which is peculiar to itself and does
not hold that high rank in God's Xter
that is possessed by Mercy + many others.
So of the rest there may be + can be no difference
in point of infinity, in any of them but
there is something peculiar to each and
some surpass others in attractiveness. Having

prepared the way by this general statement we
add now [?] All God's attributes in their
application to his creatures do not
produce "the same wondrous view, and
the same elevation of sentiments" as others.
Now we have only to reflect that this
mercy is applied to us; that we are
its beneficiaries; that its results to us
are to be infinitely blissful + glorious,
and then the conclusion will be very
natural that of all God's Attributes, His
Mercy is preeminently attractive and
that it "is Great above the Heavens."
We are in a grand amphitheatre of
natural scenery; range after range of towering
mountains rise around + stretch far
away in the dim distance [through] are projects

[with] whom the circling azure of the sky
and as peak after peak seems to pierce
the very Heavens, we are lost in
admiration of the grandeur of the scene, and feel
the influence of its sublimity. Yet while there
may be a grandeur in the projections, and
while some may lift their tall forms [?] [???ts]
crags and precipices of many
and other may [????h] forth in [?] [?]- yet,
when they eye rests upon one that stands in
the circle, a green + flowery mound, with
gentle a scent and crowned to the summit
with the deep dark green of the forest,
it is with a silent satisfaction that the spirit
clings to that as the congenial home of thought
and hope and peace. So of mercy in the
comparison with God's other glorious
attributes; they may tower aloft in
unapproachable magnificence + we can stand and

in silent wonder [adore] admire them as the
perfections of our adorable God, exclaiming
"O Lord my God thou art very Great!"
yet we turn away from Sinai with
its vengeful thunderings + lightnings
and even from Calvary while the
palpable darkness of God's
abandonment of his Son, envelopes the awful
mount, and we go "to the Mount Zion,
the city of the living God, and to the
Heavenly Jerusalem "as the blessed Mercy seat
and there lull into the sweet repose
of a Father's gracious forgiveness
all the perturbations of our anxious
spirits. It is thus that we make
it apparent that the Mercy of
God is preeminently attractive to the

children of Men. But the grandeur of this
most attractive + interesting theme needs
to be much more minutely developed that
our devotional sentiments may be fully
aroused and nurtured. Accordingly
we establish[ed] its preeminence from
[the] several arguments among which we
mention,
1. The testimony of God Himself, in His word, +
in His dealings with men. It may be stated
without any danger of doing violence to
the Word of God, that He manifests a
special pleasure in the exercise of Mercy.
He of course delights in the exercise of all
His attributes, but the statement we make
in regard to His special delights in Mercy
may be made plainer by a reference to

the process which is going on in the mind of
every one who is rightly influenced. For example:
Here is one who is a good citizen + subject to
the Laws of his country, and as such, he loves
to do all that is required of him; to
preserve the peace and security of all; to uphold
the authority of Law; to repress disorder and
violence, by actual personal influence.
You may however suppose another case
which will carry this idea still further.
It is that of one who instead of evermore
appealing to Law + authority to restrain the
disorderly, + to protect the innocent, seeks
to [inspire] infuse into all parties the principles of
virtue, industry, and order by education, + thus render
them so contented intelligent + happy that they
would govern themselves without Law. Now

which of these cases is the more attractive, +
in which of these sets of influences would a
right-thinking man take most delights? It is
easy to perceive that while the first is
good- the last is better. Again, there is one
who does justice [to all] in his intercourse with
all men associated with him; even justice; no
complaint can be made of him; he is an
upright, honest, and blameless man. But
you may readily suppose a case carried a degree
beyond this, when a man is not satisfied with
doing justly, but also loves mercy, and shows it
by bestowing his goods to feed the poor, drying
the orphan's tear, and causing the widow's
heart to sing for joy.'" In which of these
[?te??] is there most to delight and attract?
Undoubtedly in the last. So now God delights in

all His attributes, but it does seem from the very
nature of God Himself that He must take His
chief delight in Mercy, Justice, Truth, +
Holiness are infinitely pleasing to Him
but Mercy is peculiarly His delight.
What else would He have us understand
by the language; "As I live" [?] "Why will ye
die?' "God so loved the world,"[?] and the hundreds
of other passages wherein he is [rep????ted]
as a Merciful God? Much is said in the Bible about God's
other attributes, + much too that proves that God
glories in them. But [there] it cannot fail to strike
you as you read his word that there is a
peculiarity in the manner of his speaking
about Mercy, proving that it is only thro'
Mercy that you get a glimpse of the
Divine heart! He never speaks of Mercy as

"strange work:" but He does speak of Justice
in its execution, and judgement + vengeance
as His "strange work." He has no
pleasure in them- He is Love- + so Mercy
is His very bliss. And oh, fellow sinner,
you have the proof of this in His dealings
with you! You refuse, reject, and even spurn
his Mercy; and yet He follows you with it
until the last moment when you cross the
invisible "line, which marks the destiny of man for
glory or Despair;" + even then you know how
Jesus acted- (+ who was Jesus?) when the Jews
rejected him, + he knew that they would be
destroyed for their wickedness; how he stood on
the brow of [?], + wept exclaiming, "O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" [?] I establish the preeminence
of Mercy, however, by reference

II. To the testimony of God's word. This indeed,
is the object of this Book, and strange as it
may appear to you, God's saving mercy
is taught nowhere else. Some combat this
position by assuming that we know God to
be merciful from our moral Constitution:-
God has made us so that we regard mercy
as an excellence;- if so, we are made so as to
ascribe it to Him, since He could not be perfect
without that which we regard as a perfection.
But there is in this no instruction as to how
He regards Sin. A Grecian Ph. without God's word
doubted whether He cd pardon-
Some say we can learn it from our daily
experience of His goodness, and that they teaches us [this] His Mercy apart
from the Bible- But this cannot teach
us whether He will pardon Sin. This only

tells of outward good- + this is forsaking us as
we realize the affecting description 12 Ch. [?]
+ so we would be more likely to learn from
this that things wd grow worse + worse
in Eternity.
Some say that God's goodness + Benevolence
wd teach His Mercy without the Bible. And
so we may learn He is good by looking
abroad upon the earth everywhere [?] but
what about storms- Earthquakes- famines
pestilences- eruptions of Volcanic Mtns. the
death of infants, [?]? All we see here teaches
us just as much that He is a God of Vengeance as He is
of Mercy- The fact is that the Mercy
of God in saving sinners is so grand a
development of His Benevolence, that
All material worlds + all their glories can never show it

and it is to be found no where else but
her in this Book. But I establish it
III. By the manner of its display. The Plan of
salvation shows it, + nothing else could. No other
attribute ever required such a plan. "The
incarnation, life, and death of the Son of God:"-
Assuming our form + flesh, "in a manner miraculous,
intimate, + eternal"- "not ash"[?]- Stable-Poor-
Parents flying with him from those who wd murder him- earning
His bread" [?] Fatigue, hunger- was tempted- healed
the sick- preached to the poor- wept in their
sorrows- persecution- death, agony, distress
on Cross- [?] + etc
This was God's Son that did all
this! Why? to show God's Mercy!
Nothing like it ever was done
before in this world or in any