- Mercy and Truth
Psalm 25:10
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
The conditional promise regarding Mercy and Truth is a natural consequence of obeying the Law of God; keeping the commandments of the covenant results in blessings; one of the blessings is enjoying God’s mercy and truth walking on His paths. “Keeping his covenant” means believing and remaining faithful to the covenant God made with His people; it means fearing, loving and trusting in God above all things. “Keeping his testimonies” means obeying the ten commandments and all the related commands of the Torah. This kind of fear and obedience has never been accomplished by anyone other than Jesus of Nazareth; but those who believe in Him have received the righteousness of God and the obedience to all the commands of the Lord. If you keep his covenant and testimonies, then you will receive mercy and truth. In Christ the believer has kept the covenant and so all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth.
“Mercy and Truth” are two attributes of God that are mentioned together many times in the Psalms and in the Bible. These two are even often thought to be special messengers, or angels, of God who bear these qualities to people from God. Mercy inadequately translates “chesed” from the Hebrew. “Chesed” means that God is faithful to His covenant, which is based on His unconditional love for his people; “faithful love” is a better translation; “committed love” is also good. Truth translates the Hebrew “emeth,” which also means faithfulness or reliability. Thus both Mercy and Truth have “faithfulness” connected to them: God’s faithfulness is the foundation of all God’s Words and Promises. Our response is simple trust in every Word and Promise.
“The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17). Moses gave the promises of the Law, but no one could receive those promises because the human being is incapable of keeping it. But Jesus gives grace and truth as a result of His perfect keeping of the covenant. When we receive that wonderful grace gift God grants grace and truth. “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth” for us who believe. God is faithful and every promise is ours in Christ.