"Bountiful Mercy"

"But I will hope continually, and will yet praise Thee more and more." (Psalms 71:14) If you were to continue reading what Jeremiah was saying, say like from verse 14 to verse 18, and you would probably wonder what went wrong; he pretty much curses the day he was born. It is really not all that hard to understand; as I have said before, if it was not for the fact that I have Jesus to hold onto, I most likely would have checked out of here long ago. As soon as we take our eyes off of the Lord and focus on ourselves, any one of us could begin to lose hope. The older you get, the more profound that sinking feeling becomes; and the more you dwell in that place, the more frail you realize that you are. Not that knowing that is so bad, because we must always count on the Lord for strength. But seriously, I know people that stay stuck in frail-mode for days and weeks, even months at a time; at some point, you have got to get over yourself and start praising the Lord for putting up with you. Why Mercy? You might wonder that, as if mercy is not part of what this verse is speaking of; but I would disagree strongly. After that last verse, you have got to realize something about who we really are, and that God's mercy is not something that we need once; which is to say, I received mercy at the cross, and now it's all about grace. I don't agree with that line of thinking, at all! I know that I need God's mercy each and every day of my life! The more God forgives me, the more I praise Him; the more and more grateful I am for His bountiful mercy, not because I deserve it, because I don't; but because He loves to have mercy on me; He loves to show forth mercy because He is merciful to us, every single day! The word "hope" is one of patience more than anything else; it speaks about 'holding on,' as to be willing to not give up because you know it will all be okay. Add to that the word "continually," and you have something that is perpetual and constant. If I have learned anything over these last 34 years, it's that we don't get to make the rules; God makes the rules, we just need to obey. Yes, I still need mercy...
"Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Jesus Christ had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross." (Philippians 2:1-8) NLT