Whose nature is always to have mercy
AM Psalm [120], 121, 122, 123 • PM Psalm 124, 125, 126, [127]
Jer. 25:8-17 • Rom. 10:1-13 • John 9:18-41
Over time, the way I pray has changed. I used to spend much more time in contemplation and intercessory prayer, but that has shifted. I still find immeasurable value in spending periods in contemplation, and times for intercession. As other things demand my time, though, a change was needed. When I pray, I take the advice from the monastic Rule of Benedict, which advises that prayer should be brief, unless prolonged by divine inspiration.
I do pray for specific needs. But the way I do it is different now. The one phrase that I turn to more often than not is short, and to the point: “Lord, have mercy.” Psalm 123, one of the Songs of Ascent, prayed while one would be on pilgrimage to go up to Jerusalem, shows the psalmist praying for mercy: “So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he show us his mercy. / Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy, for we have had more than enough of contempt, / Too much of the scorn of the indolent rich, and of the derision of the proud.” I think praying for mercy can help us understand what Paul says in Romans when he writes that some have a zeal for God, but it is unenlightened.
A zeal for God that is unenlightened provides a warped sense of justice, where intractable hearts define who is deserving of grace. Many others have noted that in Greek, the word for mercy is related to the word for oil, which is used in the church for anointing for healing, and a physical way of marking God’s presence and consecration. When we say “Lord, have mercy” in the liturgy, it is not for the aversion of God’s anger, as if God were a tyrant. The Prayer for Humble Access in Holy Eucharist: Rite I, and the collect for the second Sunday in Lent, remind us that God’s nature is always to have mercy.
Praying for mercy is more than the relinquishing of punishment or wrath. It is a prayer for healing the soul, and for creating reconciliation. It is a prayer that changes the heart. It is praying for the heart of God to be natural in the world, where the condition of goodness takes residence as the first impulse of what we do for others.
Written by Nathan Haydon
Nathan is a PhD candidate at the University of Arkansas studying medieval literature, and writing his dissertation on theology, monasticism, and exile in Anglo-Saxon England.