His Mercy Endureth For Ever

In a recent podcast, Dr. John White spoke about the psalms, and highlighted this: “I like what the ancient Jewish tradition says at the center of the psalter is 78:38. In the middle verse, arguably people say this is the center. If you go right to the center of the whole book of Psalms, it says this in verse 38.” That verse reads this way: “But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.” Dr. White continued, “But he, God, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity. So mercy is literally in the middle of the book. And that shouldn't surprise us as Latter-day Saints, but you see, even though that doesn't function technically as a chiasmus, but we see in Alma 36, listeners will know John Welch. He's well known for this observation, that we see at the center, this phrase by Alma, Oh, Jesus, thou son of God, have mercy on me. So in both testaments of Christ, when the structure folds in half, mercy's in the crease. Mercy's in the crease. I mean, we have Christ, it's in the crease.” Yesterday I watched a Line Upon Line video about this last week’s Come, Follow Me passages with my kids, and it recommended that we read Psalm 136 together out loud. Every verse ends with the phrase, “For his mercy endureth for ever.” And so I read the first phrase of each verse and, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, I got my kids to repeat “For his mercy endureth for ever” for all 26 verses. Surely this psalm has nothing to do with the English alphabet, but I like the fact that there are 26 verses in this psalm, suggesting to me, as we might say today, that from A to Z His mercy will endure forever. The psalms indeed testify again and again that He is full of compassion and mercy.  

            The Doctrine and Covenants similarly gives a powerful witness of the mercy of the Savior towards us. In the first section chronologically that contains the words of the Savior, He said to a repentant Joseph, “But remember, God is merciful; therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou art still chosen, and art again called to the work” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:10). He also made this statement about Himself, “Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the Great I Am, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins; Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer” (Doctrine and Covenants 29:1-2). His arm of mercy is extended to us all. He also made this statement about forgiveness, “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:42). Offering forgiveness is what He does: “Verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, forgive sins unto those who confess their sins before me and ask forgiveness” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:7). He also declared, in language I find similar to the psalms, “Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:9). I love the way that the Prophet Joseph described the message of the Restoration: “Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:19). The gospel is indeed a “voice of mercy” from heaven through Jesus Christ.

            The final chapter of the Book of Mormon gives us this invitation: “Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts” (Moroni 10:3). As we read any of the books of scripture, we should seek to remember the great mercy of the Lord, in days past and in our own lives. And with the psalmist we will come to know that indeed His mercy endureth forever.