---- CHAPTER VIII: The next word in this proclamation of Exod. 34:6, 7, explained
Use 6. Doth power thus yoke with mercy; nay, is it the RATIO of mercy? (I mean of that phrase) then take God's counsel to lay hold on his strength, Isa. 27:4, 'Fury is not in me.' He speaks as to his vineyard, his church; fury is not in me against my church, I can do that no hurt; but my fury is against briars and thorns: as ver. 4, 'Who would set the briars and thorns against God in battle? He would go through them, and would burn them together.' Well, is there no remedy if they be briars and thorns? Yes; even for them there is a remedy. What is that? Ver. 5, 'Let them take hold on my strength.' Of my strength; what is that? It is an allusion to Jacob's story, that had power with God, Gen. 32:28. The meaning is, humble yourselves.
Suppose a child or servant should see one coming to strike him, they fall down in the humblest manner, and lay hold upon their hands.
Lay hold, says God, upon my mercy, and strength joined with mercy, and I am charmed, you may rule me; mercy says it twice before power's face, you may make peace with me, and you shall make peace with me.
CHAPTER VIII
The next word in this proclamation of Exod. 34:6, 7, explained; merciful,—from whence mercy ariseth in God.
I come now to the next attribute expressed in this proclamation, merciful: 'The Lord, the Lord God, strong, gracious, merciful, abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin,' Exod. 34:6, 7. Things attributed to God here are of three sorts:
1. The inward disposition or inclination, or aptitude and readiness to mercy, that is in the four first attributes, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, much in goodness, and truth is added.
2. There are his purposes and resolutions of mercy, keeping mercy for thousands; and they are immanent acts in God, kept and laid up in God's own breast.
3. There are extrinsecal acts of mercy issuing from both:
'pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin.'
The meaning plainly is, first, God is merciful as he is Jehovah; that is his nature. Secondly, he fully resolves to shew mercy; there is his heart. Thirdly, he hath done it, and doth it every day, in pardoning sin; there is his wont and practice. So that God is every way merciful: in his nature, in his purposes, and in his deeds and performances.
These four, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, much in goodness, are all of mercy's kindred and alliance; and it is very observable, that when, in Ps. 103:8, the psalmist doth quote Moses's words, he only quotes these four attributes, and leaves out truth, for it was not akin to mercy; it was not congenial to it, and was not recited there.
Though it fell in with mercy, yet it is not of mercy's pedigree. These four are therefore attributes of pure mercy, which yet have their distinguishment, which I shall after shew.
Obs. That which I observe is, that to describe the merciful designs of mercy, and grace, and long-suffering, is to define the nature of God.
Of which I shall say two things:
1. That all God's being merciful, it is resolved into God's nature of being merciful, because if being merciful be the cause of merciful effects, then mercy must have an existence before; and where but in him? Merciful effects suppose his being merciful as the root and principle in himself; so that merciful effects, and pardoning sin, &c., are attributed to him as the cause: Ps. 78:38, 'But he being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not.' It is
plain forgiving their iniquity is resolved into this, his being full of mercy, as the cause. Saith Calvin, the cause is ascribed to mercy, which is naturally in him. In Ps. 86 he implores merciful gracious effects towards himself; ver. 1–4, 'Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear me; for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me,
O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.' These mercies he implores in these verses upon this ground, because God himself is merciful; it is his nature. And so, too, Neh. 9:31, 'Thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: for thou art a gracious and merciful God.'
Here these merciful effects of not consuming them is ascribed to mercy as the cause. Jer. 3:12, 'Return, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord.' Still it runs in the causal particle; therefore they are infinitely out that say, he is said to he merciful because he does merciful effects, whereas the Scripture says he does merciful effects, for he is merciful.
2. The second thing I would say to shew he is merciful is, that he says, 'Jehovah, Jehovah, God,' and then 'merciful, gracious, longsuffering.' This thrice repeating the substantial name of God hath not only a mystery in it of the Trinity, but refers also to those attributes that follows to signify what Jehovah is; he gives him his substantial names, and then his other properties four times, which declare in reality that Jehovah, Jehovah, God, are one and the same with merciful and long-suffering, as I have shewed you largely before. And to this end too the name of God is joined with faithfulness: Deut. 7:9,
'Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.' Here is, first, a vehement indigitation of God's being God: 'Know ye therefore,' says he, 'know that the Lord thy God he is God.' And to the end they may thus know him, he adds, that he was 'the faithful God.' Faithfulness is his truth. That he insists thus on the name of God first, and then the faithfulness of God, it is to bring over the Godhead into faithfulness, that so they might trust to his faithfulness as his
Godhead. And indeed you find it expressly called himself: 2 Tim.
2:13, 'He abideth faithful; he cannot deny himself.' Faithfulness is himself: Titus 1:2, 'God that cannot lie.' Why? Because he is God; it is his Godhead to be true and faithful. Wherever he hath engaged his word, there his Godhead is engaged to make it good, for he is the faithful God; and wherever his mercy is engaged, there is his
Godhead engaged, and laid at stake to eternity, to shew mercy to that soul. Now read over that Deut. 7:9 once more: 'Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.' Then read these words in the text of Exod. 34, 'Jehovah, Jehovah, God merciful, gracious.'
What faithful is there, merciful is here.
Let us now consider why merciful is in order placed first; the truth is, in order of nature, grace is before mercy, and I could give many scriptures where grace is first named; but the reason why he here puts merciful first is, because he is to speak to sinners. He presents himself to sinners; and if to them he had said at first dash, God is good, or God is gracious, or God is love, sinners would have said,
This speaks short to us, and why? Because he is good to all his creatures that never sinned; he is gracious to angels that never sinned; ay, but merciful, with that proper effect, 'pardoning iniquity, transgression, and sin,' that is a welcome saying to sinners, and speaks home to their case.
I shall now consider what is the rise of mercy, which doth involve the Godhead itself; that one attribute should be ratio alterius, as to our apprehension, is allowed by them that did most exquisitely argue about God and his attributes. Now then I shall shew you what it is makes him merciful (it will help our faith to consider it), not how all attributes fall in, as holiness, &c., do, but what is the special genealogy and descent of mercy (we speak after the manner of men, and yet the Scripture speaks the same), what is the ratio misericordiæ. Mercy fetcheth its pedigree,—
1. From his blessedness. God comes to be merciful by descent, from his having all fulness of perfection completely in him, and being happy in himself, and having no need of any thing, Acts 17:25. He is the blessed God, and all-sufficient God, and so all-sufficient, that he is above all misery, that misery cannot reach him; and this makes and inclines him to be merciful. God having all within himself transcendently and completely, that he need not any thing that is out of himself, he is therefore able and hath power to make others blessed; and being merciful, therefore, he can pardon, though sinners sin against him. For why? Their sins do not hurt him, he is full of all enjoyments, and is equally happy, whether the creatures be or not be; and as equally happy, whether the creature sin or not sin against him, for they no-way reach to hurt his enjoyment: Job 35:6,
7, 'If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what dost thou unto him? If thou be righteous, what givest thou to him, or what receiveth he of thine hand?' Neither the one nor the other can any-way hurt him, or benefit him; he is not benefitted by the righteousness of any creature.
Nay, Christ himself says, Ps. 16:2, 'My righteousness extends not to thee;' thou art never the better by it, thou art so perfect a God. Nor is he hurt by sin; therefore he can easily pardon. All are not alike to him as to his external glory; but as to his inward essential happiness, they are all alike as to any prejudice they can do it.
What made Paul that he could forgive injuries? It was that he got good by them; he was not injured at all, Gal. 4:12. And so the blessedness of God, and his being above all so high, and above the reach of all, is a ground of his being merciful. I observe in Luke 1:72, that mercy is there said to be promised; 'To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant.' Among these it was to Abraham God made himself known by name, and it was to strengthen his faith in the promise of mercy. And the first name by which he manifests himself is this: 'I am,' says he, 'God allsufficient,' Gen. 17:1, and the word signifies, I am full of paps, I am all-sufficient of myself, and therefore I am a God that can afford what is in me unto others; I have a breast full for others, as well as
happiness in myself. And thus, 'God of comfort,' and 'Father of mercies,' are well joined together, 2 Cor. 1:3, that is, he that is so blessed in himself is merciful in himself. Abraham, to whom God thus proclaimed himself all-sufficient, is the standard instance of being justified, and the father of the faithful; and that maxim is drawn from his example, Rom. 4:5. Now it was all-sufficiency that Abraham heard of, which encouraged him to believe.
There was also another name of God, and that was עליון אל, El Helyon, 'God most high,' brought up by Melchisedek, when he came to Abraham, Gen. 14:19. It is four times used there, and that is the first use of it upon Abraham's occasion. What is the meaning of this
'the most high God'? It is, that he is above all, out of the reach of all.
Now you find the Scripture calls it, 'the mercy of the Most High,' Ps.
21:7. Nay, it is observable, that ὁ ἐλεῶν in Greek, and in the Hebrew ho eleon, is the word for merciful. The most high and the merciful
God, are well then joined together. The schoolmen ordinarily say, true mercy is only in God. Why? Because he only is above all misery, and therefore able to help his people out of it. The Scripture says, it is the mercy of the Most High: Luke 6:34, 35, 'Be ye merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.' That is the exhortation, imitate your
Father; and, says he, 'you shall be the children of the highest.' You shall be like him that is highest; therefore 'be merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful.'
2. Mercy is in God ad modum virtutis, as a perfection, which you know is after the way of being a virtue. All perfections are in God, and there are these three sorts of perfections in him: First, Such as we call metaphysical transcendent excellencies in himself, as majesty, glory, unchangeableness, infiniteness, eternity. Secondly,
We say there are perfections of faculties, of understanding (which the Scripture says is infinite), and of his will. But, thirdly, there is also in him perfectiones morales, moral perfections. We are forced, and God himself is forced, to speak of himself in this manner, that we may understand. It is a good saying of the schoolmen, It becomes God to be most perfect, not only in his absolute being, and the excellencies
thereof, but also in virtue. If you would have Scripture, see 1 Peter 2:9, 'Shew forth the praises of him who hath called you.' We translate it 'praises,' but in the margin it is 'virtues.' Whom doth he speak of?
Not of Christ only, but of God the Father: 'Now you are the people of God,' ver. 10. 'As he which hath called you is holy' (there is one virtue); 'so be ye holy in all manner of conversation,' 1 Pet. 1:15. And answerably hereto, 'shew forth the virtues of him which hath called you.' Now mercy is one virtue eminently intended in Peter; for it followeth, 'which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God; which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy,' from God, by calling you; and therefore shew forth that virtue. Now holiness is a virtue we all acknowledge: 'As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.'
And what? Is not this parallel to that Scripture, 'Be you merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful,' Luke 6:35. As holiness, then, is a virtue in him, so mercifulness is a virtue in him. If you yet doubt of it, consider further what is said, 'Be you perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect,' Mat. 5:48. He speaks it of mercy, for it refers to verses 44, 45: 'Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.' Now, then, that mercy whereby God is perfect, must needs be himself, his essence, nothing can perfect God but himself; he should otherwise be beholden to an accident, and quality, and creature, if anything perfect him but himself. Now to shew the descent of mercy for strengthening our faith, consider,
1. The blessedness of God is the rise of goodness in him (still we speak after the manner of men). Now there is his goodness of being, entity of goodness; and there is his goodness by which he communicates himself, and that is an attribute, which is all one with his being, only it inclines him to communicate: Ps. 119:68, 'Thou art good, and dost good.' The nature of goodness is to communicate itself, and to be sure goodness in God is his nature. But how doth it rise from blessedness? says our Saviour Christ (there is but one saying of his that is not in the Evangelists), Acts 20:35, 'It is more
blessed to give than to receive.' Is he a blessed God? He will give then, he will communicate himself. In Exod. 33:19, which is the preface to this text, Exod. 34:6, 7, says God to Moses, 'I will cause all my goodness to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.' Doth God proclaim all his goodness here? No; there be many attributes he doth not proclaim. The best interpretation I have is, that which is his goodness communicative for us (as for his essential goodness, it is himself), such as mercy, and grace, and truth, these are those he proclaims, so that his goodness is the ground of his being merciful and gracious; Ps. 25:6, 7, David there praying earnestly for forgiveness, 'Remember,' says he, 'O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord.' He enters upon this, that God was good, and goodness itself, because he knew that mercy centred in goodness: Ps. 86:5, 'Thou, Lord, art good,' that is the first; then 'ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy.' And this is the first burden of many psalms, 'The Lord is good, and his mercy endures for ever.' And it was that they sung in the temple, as you may read in the Chronicles. You see, then, there is blessedness first, and goodness ariseth from blessedness.
2. The next thing in God is love, and that ariseth from goodness. The goodness that is in God inclines him to love, and to be the most profuse lover. You read in 1 John 4:7, 8, 'God is love.' The question is, whether this speech doth not import, that he is love in himself, as well as that he shews love. There are these reasons why it imports what he is in himself, when he says, God is love. Says he, ver. 7,
'Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God,' that is the affirmative; and ver. 8. 'He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love'; that is, he knows not God in what is most proper to him, as to what doth most abound in him, for God is love. We ordinarily say of a man that is of such a disposition, I know him, he is so and so; so the believer knows God to be love. Thus the apostle says positively,
'He that is born of God knows God, for God is love.' I take the meaning thus: When a man hath tasted that the Lord is gracious, the truth is, it is not only an act of love that he tastes, but he tastes God, he sucks in dietatem, he sucks in this, that there is a principle in God to maintain his love to eternity. And so God being love, he knows him to be so. Again, he says, 'All love is of God, for God is love.' What is the meaning of that? That if God be the author of all love, then certainly there is love in him; 'He that made the eye, shall not he see?' But that which most convinceth me is, that he saith, ver. 12, 'No man hath seen God at any time.' He speaks it of his love, which none sees but as manifest by effects; but God is love essentially. Says
Aquinas, Whoever hath a will, hath a proneness to love. Says Musculus, As every one is in goodness, so in love. If God then hath a will inclined to anything, it is to love; he hath hatred in him to sin, he hath the opposite: he hath a love also to something, only it is guided by his will towards creatures.
3. Love and grace are the roots of mercy. Where he sets his love, if there be misery, there love is drawn out to pity and mercy. The schoolmen say, it is but extensio amoris, but an extending of love to the creature when in misery. And indeed the Hebrew word for mercy,
חסד, signifies also love or good will. Our translators oft render it, 'merciful loving-kindness:' Ps. 117:2, 'His merciful kindness is great towards us.' And it is mercy he speaks of, for it is quoted in Rom.
15:9, 'The Gentiles shall glorify God for his mercy.' And Ps. 119:76, 'Let thy merciful loving-kindness be for my comfort;' or thy lovingkindness be stretched out into mercy where there is need. Where there is love, there is a design of good to the party loved; then desires follow. Where there is love, there is a rejoicing over the person: when he prospers, then there is joy; if he be in misery, there is a drawing out that love into pity. If you say, 'The Lord is gracious,' you go not beyond merciful, for that is grace and love drawn out to the full length, as far as grace and love can reach. What phrase the schoolmen expresses it by, the Scripture doth the like; Ps. 36:10, 'Oh continue thy loving-kindness:' draw out at length thy lovingkindness (so in the margin). And it speaks of mercy, for he magnifies
mercy: ver. 5, 'Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens.' In that scripture too which is famous amongst us, Jer. 31:3, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee,' that last clause hath two significations (it is varied in the margin): I have extended loving-kindness to thee, I have stretched out lovingkindness to thee; so Piscator reads it. Now hence it comes to pass, that in shewing mercy God makes the foundation of it to be love:
Ephes. 2:4, 5, 'But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.' Rom. 5:8, 'God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.'
Mercy is there called love; and it is indeed but a commending or extending of love towards sinners; 'when we were sinners, Christ died.' Tit. 3:4, 'The kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us.' When the kindness and love of God appears, mercy follows; according to his mercy (being sinners) he saveth us.
Use 1. Is mercy the nature of God, and is he mercy himself? Then consider, look how great God is, so great is his mercy. Our translation reads it, As is his greatness, so is his mercy. Why?
Because it is God's. Where he pitcheth mercy by his will, there the whole Godhead is engaged, Jehovah, Jehovah, God gracious and merciful; he brings over all the whole Godhead when he will be merciful.
Use 2. We do not treat with the will of God every day. He that is a believer treats with the will of God, that he would but be merciful to him. Now those that treat with the will of God, either in a way of assurance, or in throwing themselves upon him, and hoping in his mercy, what have they to plead? All the mercies in the nature of God, to be a ground of plea before him, to tell him what a God he is in mercy. Oh that we would but inure our hearts to this practice; it would be a mighty advantage! In Num. 14, Moses having first urged the mercies that were in God himself, that he is a God long-suffering, great in mercy, then he prays, 'According to thy great mercy do thou
pardon.' What mercy? The mercy he mentioned which is in God himself: 'Deal,' says he, 'according to this mercy in thee which thou hast spoken of.' As if one were to supplicate a merciful man, he implores the mercy and ingenuity of his nature, which upon all occasions he had shewn. Moses was the first that brought up this happy expression, 'According to thy mercy' (I know not where it is used by any other man), that is, according to the infinite mercy in thy heart and nature. David did next use it, Ps. 25; and in the great case of his sin of adultery, Ps. 51:1, 'that he would be merciful to him according to the multitude of his mercies.' And as he needed all the mercies in God, so he confessed the sin of his nature, and hath recourse to the mercies in God's nature. But it is Ps. 25:7 I pitch on; there he doth not content himself only with this expression,
'According to thy mercy,' but he adds another phrase, 'For thy mercy's sake', and 'goodness' sake.' Muis observes in this coherence,
'Good and upright is the Lord,' that he centres in his nature. Thou hast a merciful nature; deal with me according to that, and for the sake of that, according to thy mercy, for thy goodness' sake. The meditation of that attribute was the foundation of his faith and prayer herein. When he hath done, he referreth himself to Moses: ver. 11, 'For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.' He refers to that name proclaimed before Moses, Exod. 34:6,
7. But you will say, How do these expressions, 'for thy name's sake,'
'for thy goodness' sake,' 'for thy mercy's sake,' imply the same as 'for himself,' 'for his own sake'? how do they involve the Godhead? Look to Isa. 43:25, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake,' that is, for my self: Isa. 48:2, 'For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it.' You have it twice in one verse; and that which is 'for mercy's sake' in one place, is 'for mine own sake' in another: and behold it is I, I am he, as I am God, who doth it.
What is this but 'Jehovah, Jehovah, God merciful'? We may learn from Old Testament phrases that which we do not so much consider.
They have taught us in their prayers from Moses's example, how to pray and urge the mercies of God; Dan. 9:18, 19, he has said 'For thy mercy's sake do this;' and at ver. 19, 'For thine own sake do this;' he puts them both together. To me this is a great thing, that when we go