65. Be assured of his compassion.

'Two blind men sitting by the roadside shouted, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy upon us!" ... Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.' (Matthew 20:29-34) Just as it was compassion that caused him to heal the sick, it was compassion that caused him to show mercy because that is the nature of God. "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin." (Exodus 34:6-7) This self-description of God found in these two verses became for the Jews a profound summary of God's nature. They appealed to the goodness of God whenever they were in need, just as these two blind men did. 'Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?", he asked. "Lord", they answered, "we want our sight."' (Matthew 20:32-33) What do we want the Lord to do for us today? Let's appeal to the goodness of God, 'For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness ... Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.' ( Hebrews 4:15-16) What was called the 'mercy seat' (Hebrews 9:5) in the old testament has come to be known as the 'throne of grace' in the new testament because 'the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.' (John 1:17) Mercy means 'not getting what we deserve' whereas Grace means 'getting what we did not deserve'. If the Lord has been merciful to us, then he will not fail to be gracious to us as well because, 'The Lord is gracious ... our God is full of compassion.' (Psalm 116:5) Amen.