God, Be Merciful to Me

The Mercy Seat

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The tax collector prayed, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). The word Jesus used for be merciful comes from the same family of words as the mercy seat, the gold lid of the ark God told Moses to make.

A gold lid. God told Moses to build the ark, a chest covered with gold. Its lid was made of pure gold, and it was called the mercy seat. Two gold cherubim, heavenly beings with wings, stood on top of it, facing each other (Exodus 25:17-20).

God's law inside. The stone tablets of God's law were kept inside the ark (Exodus 25:21). The law showed God's people where they had sinned. The gold lid sat right on top of it.

Once a year. On the Day of Atonement, the high priest went behind the curtain into the Most Holy Place. He brought the blood of a sacrifice, and he was to “sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat” (Leviticus 16:15).

Atonement. Atonement means making peace between God and people by dealing with sin. God said, “So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place… for all their sins” (Leviticus 16:16).

A life for a life. God explained why the blood mattered: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood… it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Sin brings death, so a life was given in place of the people.

The holiest place. The book of Hebrews describes the cherubim of glory spreading their wings over the mercy seat (Hebrews 9:5). It was the holiest spot in all Israel, and it was also the place of mercy.

Be merciful to me. The tax collector stood afar off. The mercy he asked for is the mercy the mercy seat pictured: sin covered by a sacrifice God accepts.

Jesus, our mercy seat. When Paul wrote about Jesus in Romans 3:25, he used the same Greek word that the Greek translation of the Old Testament used for the mercy seat. God set forth Jesus, by His blood, as the place where sin is paid for and mercy is given to everyone who believes.

One time. The high priest sprinkled blood every year. Jesus gave His own blood one time, on the cross, and it never needs to be given again. Then He rose from the dead. He “was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25).

What to do. When you pray the tax collector's prayer, you are asking God for mercy that Jesus has already paid for. Pray it honestly, trust Jesus, and thank Him for His blood.

“God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). The tax collector's word for be merciful belongs with the place where God showed mercy to sinners: the mercy seat.

Kapporet. The Hebrew name for the lid of the ark is kapporet (say: kah-poh-RET), from a word for covering and atonement. It was made of pure gold, with two cherubim facing each other above it (Exodus 25:17-20), and it sat over the tablets of the law (25:21).

Hilasterion. In the Greek Old Testament the mercy seat is called hilasterion (say: hih-lah-STAY-ree-on). It comes from the same word family as the verb in the tax collector's prayer. The word he used belongs with the mercy seat.

The Day of Atonement. Once a year the high priest brought the blood of the sin offering inside the veil and was to “sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat” (Leviticus 16:15). “So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place… for all their sins” (16:16).

Why blood. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls” (Leviticus 17:11). Sin brings death. Mercy came because a life was given in place of the guilty.

Hebrews 9:5. Hebrews describes the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. The place of God's holy presence was also the place where blood was sprinkled over the broken law.

An old prayer. Asaph prayed, Help us, O God of our salvation… provide atonement for our sins, for Your name's sake (Psalm 79:9). In the Greek Old Testament, provide atonement is the same verb the tax collector used.

Romans 3:25. Paul uses hilasterion for Jesus. God set Him forth, by His blood, through faith. At the cross God's righteous anger against sin was turned away, and mercy was opened to everyone who believes. The tax collector's prayer finds its full answer there.

Raised for us. Jesus did not stay in the grave. He “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification” (Romans 4:25). The sacrifice was accepted, and the Savior lives.

Application. Do not come to God holding out your record. Come the way the tax collector came, and trust the blood of Jesus. God has promised mercy there.

Sent Home Right with God

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Jesus said the tax collector “went down to his house justified rather than the other” (Luke 18:14). He asked God for mercy, and God gave him even more. God declared him right with Himself.

What justified means. To be justified is to be declared right with God. A judge can say, not guilty. God says even more. He counts the person who trusts Him as righteous, right in His sight.

Two ways to be right. Jesus told the story to some “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous” (Luke 18:9). They wanted to be right with God because of their own record. The tax collector was declared right because of God's mercy.

Their own righteousness. Paul wrote about people who were “seeking to establish their own righteousness” and “have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). They worked hard to build their own way to God instead of taking His.

Christ is the end. “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). Trying to earn our way to God comes to an end in Jesus. He is the way to be right with God.

The same day. The tax collector did not go home on trial, waiting to see whether he had done enough. He went down to his house justified that very day. God gives this verdict the moment a sinner trusts Him.

New clothes. In Isaiah 61:10, God's people sing that He has clothed them with the garments of salvation and covered them with the robe of righteousness. Being justified is like God taking away dirty clothes and dressing you in clean ones that He made.

Peace with God. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The tax collector went home at peace with God.

Every day. Being justified does not mean you will never sin again. It means God has settled your case. When you sin, come back to Him honestly, and He will forgive you.

What to do. Stop trying to prove you are good enough. Trust Jesus, who died for your sins and rose again. Then thank God every day that you are right with Him because of His gift.

“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other” (Luke 18:14). The tax collector asked for mercy and received a verdict. He went home declared right with God.

The old question. Job asked how a person can be righteous before God (Job 9:2). David begged God not to enter into judgment with him, because in His sight no one living is justified (Psalm 143:2). Luke 18:14 gives God's answer: He justifies the sinner who comes for mercy.

The same day. The tax collector did not go home on trial, waiting to see whether he had done enough. He “went down to his house justified” that very day. Justification is not a prize at the end of a long record. God gives this verdict the moment a sinner trusts Him.

Romans 10:3-4. Paul described people “seeking to establish their own righteousness” who “have not submitted to the righteousness of God.” Then he wrote, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” Christ ends the search for a homemade righteousness.

A robe given. Isaiah 61:10 rejoices that the Lord clothes His people with the garments of salvation and covers them with the robe of righteousness. Justification is a robe God puts on us, not a garment we sew for ourselves.

Not a comparison. Jesus did not say the Pharisee was a worse man than the tax collector. He said the tax collector, not the Pharisee, went home justified. Justification rests on what God declares, not on how our lives compare.

Faith that receives. Faith is not one more good work to offer God. It is the empty hand that receives what God gives, as the tax collector's prayer did. He brought nothing to the temple but his need, and he went home with God's verdict.

Peace. “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The war between the sinner and God is over.

Assurance. Justification is God's settled verdict, not a feeling that comes and goes. Believers still sin and still confess, but they confess as children who belong to God.

Application. Think about where you still try to earn God's approval: grades, good behavior, being better than someone else. Lay it down. Trust the Jesus who died and rose, and live as someone God has already declared right.

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