Faith Expressions

Part II: GOD is MERCY, LOVE and COMPASSION

This is a list of Bible verses about the mercy, love and compassion of God. Mercy and love are two words that are synonymous or have the same meaning. Compassionate is a word that God often used to describe himself, and the most important components of compassion are mercy and love. Two concepts related to mercy, love and compassion are the concepts of forgiveness and repentance. Together, these concepts or characters make up one of the most outstanding characteristics of God or what could probably be the most outstanding characteristic of God, which God has communicated and imparted to humanity over a long period of time and – as Christian faith holds – continues to do so. The quoted Bible verses are taken from the books of Exodus, Psalms, Isaiah and Joel of the Old Testament of the Bible and from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John of the New Testament. Related to this topic of “God is Mercy, Love and Compassion” is the topic of “God is Love,” which is part of the first article entitled, “Bible Verses about Three Characteristics of God.” More Bible verses about love are found in the articles with a general title, “Amore77.”

Book of Exodus

“And the Lord said [to Moses], ’I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’”

(Exodus 33:19 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about a merciful and compassionate God who gives His gift of mercy and love according to His will

“Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ’The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.’”

(Exodus 34:5-7 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verses about a categorical declaration by God that He is a compassionate, merciful and loving God, which was uttered to Moses on Mount Sinai

Book of Psalms

“Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, who sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.”

(Psalm 32:1-2 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verses about the power of God’s mercy to restart a person’s life with a clean slate and then some

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight….”

(Psalm 51:1-4 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verses about the act of asking for forgiveness from God that relies solely on God’s love, that requires an honest admission of one’s fault and that recognizes the reality that sin, essentially, is an offense against God

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

(Psalm 51:7 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about a psalmist’s faith in God to be able to wipe clean his being and then some

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

(Psalm 51:10 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about the blessings of sincere repentance

“My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, you, God, will not despise.”

(Psalm 51:17 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about real repentance that God accepts and which is symbolized by the concept of “brokenness,” that is, being completely crushed by one’s sin that leads to a recognition of the need for God as essential to one’s life

Book of Isaiah

“…you refuse to ask for my help. You have grown tired of me…You have not honored me with sacrifices, though I have not burdened and wearied you…Instead, you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your faults. I - yes, I alone - will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

(Isaiah 43:22-25 / NLT 2007) --- Bible verses about a very emotional, heart-broken God who still continues to forgive the sins of a people who have ignored or forgotten Him

“I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away yours sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”

(Isaiah 44:21-22 / NLT 2007) --- Bible verses about the ransom paid by a very emotional, loving God for the sole purpose of forgiving our sins and saving humanity

“But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.”

(Isaiah 53:5 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verse about the salvific actions of God’s chosen Redeemer who was the perfect sacrifice on the cross which, in turn, gave the perfect meaning of brokenness vis-a-vis dependency on God

“’For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you’ says the Lord your Redeemer.”

(Isaiah 54:7-8 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verses about a justice-seeking God who remains eternally kind and compassionate to His people

“Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

(Isaiah 58:5-9 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verses about God elevating the meaning of fasting to repentance involving acts of social justice and love of neighbor from its previous status as repentance using physical display of one’s humility and personal physical deprivation and suffering, and which show the compassionate response of God to the kind of fasting he requires

Book of Joel

“’Even now,’ declares the Lord, ’return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.’ Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love…”

(Joel 2:12-13 / NIV® 2011) --- Bible verses about a compassionate and loving God who informs his people that repentance is a real, internal conversion of the heart and not an external, optic show

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Part I: God is Majesty

Part II: God is Mercy, Love and Compassion

Part III: God is Mercy, Love and Compassion - A Continuation

Part IV: God is Holy, God is Priest and God is God