There are many references in Scripture to God as a God of mercy, such as Psalm 136. But a term which vividly captures this attribute is that of God sitting on a mercy seat. The Hebrew word used to describe God’s seat means lid or covering, but is rendered “mercy seat” in the King James and New King James translations “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width…. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel” (Exodus 25:17–22). Just think of all the names that God could easily have chosen for His seat—the seat of vengeance, the seat of justice, the seat of law or the seat of punishment.
These are all legitimate names that God could have easily chosen for His seat. After all, God does take vengeance; He is a God of justice and law, who does punish! But of all the dozens of accurate names that God could have chosen for His seat, He chose—the mercy seat. What an unspeakable blessing this is for us! We would not be here today were it not for the fact that God sits on a mercy seat!
King David knew this quite well. He was in trouble again! He had sinned again! This time it was because of numbering Israel. God gave him a choice; fall into the hands of man or fall into God’s hands. “And David said to Gad, I am in great distress” (2 Samuel 24:14). Understand this was no joke or something to be taken lightly—it was great distress. But nevertheless, notice the choice: “Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD…” What?
Was David lacking in judgment? Did he not know that our God is a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24), and that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31)? Yes, David knew all of that. That is why he said that he was in great distress. Nevertheless, he said: “Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD…” He then tells us why he made this choice: “…for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” David knew God. He knew that our great God sits on a seat called the mercy seat, that He is a God of mercy, compassion and pity.
Did David make a stupid decision? “And when the angel stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, ‘It is enough; now restrain Your hand’” (2 Samuel 24:16) Yes, David made the right call. God relented. He told the angel to stop. “It is enough.” Truly, the great God sits on the mercy seat. He is a God of mercy, compassion and pity.
Look at this example in the book of Judges: “Then the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD… So the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the people of Ammon” (Judges 10:6–7). “And the children of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, ‘We have sinned against You, because we have both forsaken our God and served the Baals!’ So the Lord said to the children of Israel, ‘Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the people of Ammon and from the Philistines? Also the Sidonians and Amalekites and Maonites oppressed you; and you cried out to Me, and I delivered you from their hand. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress…. I will deliver you no more’” (vv. 10–13).
But notice what happened next. “Then the children of Israel said to the LORD, ‘We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray’” (v. 15). So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD.” In other words, the people repented. God had said, “I will deliver you no more.” Will He? “And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel” (v. 16). God is merciful. The people repented and He did deliver them again. Chapter 11 describes the deliverance. God forgives us when we repent of our sins. He is truly a God of mercy, compassion and pity, sitting on the mercy seat.
There is another example concerning King Hezekiah. “In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live’” (2 Kings 20:1). To make sure that Hezekiah got the point, he said “you shall die, and not live.” Of course if you die you shall not live! But notice what happened next. “Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, ‘Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.’ And Hezekiah wept bitterly” (v. 2–3). God had already made up His mind, remember? “You shall die and not live.” It sounded so final. What is the use in even praying about it? But, again notice: “Then it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, ‘Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of my people, thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you....’” (vv. 4–5). God not only healed him, he got 15 more years of life. God, who in the last breath said, “you shall die and not live,” that very God says, in the next breath—before Isaiah even left the building—“surely I will heal you.” Our great God sits on a seat called, of all things, the mercy seat. He is a God of mercy, compassion and pity.
As we saw earlier, God shows mercy to the repentant He is merciful to the merciful (Matthew 5:7). Those whoshow no mercy receive no mercy (James 2:13). God does get angry at sin. He is a jealous God. His name is Jealous (Exodus 34:14). He can be provoked. He has great wrath. He is indeed a consuming fire. To fall into His hands is truly a fearful thing—great distress, as David put it. At times God says that He will show no mercy, no compassion, no pity—for instance, in the coming punishment on Israel. Now does that mean God leaves His mercy seat? Absolutely not! Our great God sits on a seat called the mercy seat! That is why even in our worst trials, were it not for the fact that God sits on His mercy seat, things could always be much worse. Never forget it! No matter how hard a trial may be, it could be a great deal worse, were it not for the fact that our great God is merciful.
Take, for instance, the worst possible nightmare that can befall any human being: the Lake of Fire. No one—in his or her right mind—would desire such a fate. But even in this matter would you believe God, the God of mercy, compassion and pity is sitting on His mercy seat? Just think of what hell could be like. What about being tortured for all eternity, or burning in a lake of fire for all eternity, without being able to die? No, even to His worst enemies, the incorrigibly wicked, those who spit on the precious sacrifice of His Son, those who tell God by their actions “I do not want You or Your Son”—even to such, God is still sitting on His mercy seat. He will burn them up, putting them out of their misery.
We would not be here today were it not for the fact that the great God sits on a seat called the mercy seat. God is truly a God of mercy, compassion, and pity!