"What Doth the Lord Require of Thee"

"WHAT doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8. We are required by the God of Heaven to "love mercy," in order to be saved in his kingdom and meet his acceptance. As mercy is one of God's own attributes, those who are to dwell forever in his presence must possess it and appreciate it. This is eminently reasonable. To go to Heaven we must possess the heavenly character. To dwell with God we must be like him. Satan and his adherents were cast out of Heaven because they ceased to be in harmony with the principles which reign there. It would be folly to suppose that God would take those there who were lower in nature than those who were cast out, unless the principles of Heaven were incorporated into their character beforehand.

What is mercy? Webster defines it as follows: "A disposition to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves; to forgive obligation out of compassion for the offender. An act of favor, pity, compassion or tenderness." We are required then, by the God of Heaven, to have a disposition to overlook injuries. We are required to treat men even better than they deserve out of compassion for them. We are required to be tender, kind, pitiful and forgiving. So says the Lord. Why should we not all have such a disposition? We can see it is beautiful in others, when they exercise it. Hatred is not lovely. Revenge is not admirable. It is noble to rise above the personal feeling of resentment and to forgive personal wrong. Our great Pattern set us the example. When hanging on the cross, after being spit upon, beaten, insulted, and nailed upon the tree, and suffering in agony, he looks upon his persecutors and cries, "Father forgive them; they know not what they do." He looked forward to the time when Divine justice would unsheathe her sword and these guilty souls would wail in anguish. His great heart of love pitied them in view of that terrible hour. He looked above the plane of personal feeling. No personal resentment was in his heart. Such an example of mercy was never shown before. We admire it because it was so noble. Will it not be noble in us to cherish the same spirit and put away the unworthy resentments which lodge so easily in our hearts when we fancy ourselves slighted or mistreated?

He is a Christian who really follows Christ. He is not really one who does not. Without the spirit of Christ we are none of his. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, follow me." "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" And what does he say? "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." Matt. 6:15. "When ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive you." Mark 11:25. It is strange how some people dare to pray the Lord's prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," when they themselves have no thought of exercising feelings of forgiveness towards those who have offended them. Such virtually pray the Lord never to forgive their sins. "Forgive us as we forgive." It would be a dangerous prayer for such to pray. What is it to forgive? "To cease to feel resentment against." (Webster.) It is to get that bad feeling out of the heart, which we have when we think of those who may have wronged us. We sometimes hear people say, "I can forgive but I never can forget." A very foolish remark, for evidently they do not forgive at all, but are determined to hold that miserable feeling of resentment in the heart as long as they live. To forgive is to have that feeling give place to feelings of kindness. We are not required to think those who do wrong, have done right; we may not see anything in their course to admire or imitate; we may know they are selfish, wicked, and on the road to ruin. But feelings of personal resentment in the heart which will not allow feelings and acts of kindness are not tolerated by our holy religion.

Christ's parable in Matt. 18, is good evidence on this point. He presents before us the case of a king who called one of his servants to account who owed him many millions of dollars. This servant begged for mercy as he had not wherewith to pay. His lord forgave him. But he went out and found a fellow-servant of his which owed him about 15 dollars. He took him by the throat and required immediate payment, and because he did not pay him he shut him up in prison. When the lord heard of this act he delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay the immense debt due him. Had he shown a merciful spirit himself this would not have been required of him. Says Christ in conclusion, "So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses."

It is not enough to say, "I can forgive but shall never forget." We must forgive "from the heart." The difficulty with many who seem so loth to forgive, is that they seem to regard it as a sort of luxury to cherish feelings of resentment. Like Peter, whose cause called out the above parable, they feel it is a great strain upon their nature to forgive. He said to Christ, "How oft shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? till seven times?" Jesus said, "I say not unto thee till seven times, but until seventy times seven"—490 times. That is we should always cherish feelings of forgiveness and tenderness, even to those who abuse us personally, leaving them to the judgment of God, who will know how to deal with them. "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." That attribute belongs to him. We would not know how to use it; we would make great mistakes and often deal unjustly. It would not be safe for him to entrust it to finite man. Hence he has reserved it to himself. We must give "place" to the wrath of God. If we could always realize how much happier we shall be to cherish feelings of love and kindness in our hearts, than if we cherish resentment and hatred, we could better understand the Saviour's remarks to Peter. Love is better than hatred. Peace is better than war. Kindness is better than resentment. Forgiveness is better than revenge. The mind of Christ is better than the malice of Satan and of a corrupt heart. Therefore if angry, unkind feelings kindle up because of wrong done us, let us get them out of our hearts as quickly as possible. Never let the sun go down and our wrath remain burning. It is not a good companion to sleep with. Oh, that a spirit of forgiveness and love might ever characterize the followers of Christ. It will, all those who really follow him, for he never showed any other spirit.

Mercy is also an active principle. It prompts to acts of pity, love, and tenderness. The good Samaritan had it. It caused Christ to come to earth to save a lost race. Howard, the philanthropist, possessed it. All true benefactors of mankind have had it. All who are ever saved must perform deeds of kindness and love without hope of reward in this life. We must do it because it is noble, because it is right and because our Lord has set us an example. This is an age of selfishness and covetousness. How few there are who are really trying to do good. How few who are willing to consecrate their lives to works of benevolence such as Christ performed for the purpose of saving others. Many who are forced by the sense of duty to do something for the benefit of others and the salvation of their fellows, feel that it is a great hardship, and want to do just as little as they can and not feel condemned. For fear of the future they will do a little, and wish they could find some way to escape from it which would satisfy their own minds. Such do not "love mercy" they dislike it very much when expected of them. It is a bitter cup to them. As Christians we should rise above the stress of duty to the high plane of loving to do good for its own sake. We should love to work for that which is noble and god-like; our characters will be most worthy and we shall better answer the end of our creation. When the love of doing right for its own sake and for Christ's sake takes possession of the heart, we shall not go to work "like the quarry slave driven to his task" under the whip of stern duty, but we shall delight our souls in the Lord, and his service will be precious to us; better by far than the service of the world, and the devil. Then our souls will be sustained with trust in God and cheerfulness and happiness will be ours. The peace of God which passeth all understanding will rule and reign in our hearts. We like to labor for that which we love. This is a great lesson to "love mercy" for its own sake and for Christ's sake. May God help us all to learn it.