The number of verses that show those attributes is huge, which means that God expresses them more than, say, wrath. They are a major theme of Scripture. (These are my personal favorite attributes because I need them daily.)

Let’s begin.

I. Love

A. Brief intro

Let’s begin with this one. This attribute of God is communicable or transferrable to us because we are made in God’s image, he pours his love on us, and he gives us grace and power to share his love with others.

Lovingkindness is covered here.

B. Short word studies

Mounce’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says that the Hebrew word ḥesed (pronounced khesed) “is one of the riches, more theologically insightful terms in the OT. It denotes ‘kindness, love, loyalty, mercy,’ most poignantly employed in the context of relationship between God and humans as well as between human and another—the former relationship using the word three times as often as the latter” (p. 426). Then he goes on to highlight the covenant relation God has with Israel. So ḥesed means “covenant love,” which further means he is totally committed.

In the New Testament, we focus on the main word for love: agapē (pronounced agapee or agapay). It too means total commitment and giving the best to the recipient. In secular Greek literature it was not used often, and it was neutral. So the New Testament authors picked up on it and transformed it.

C. What do theologians say?

We look at only one this time.

Renewal theologian J. Rodman Williams expands on it:

God is centrally the God of love. Love is the very essence of the divine nature … One does not need to go behind some loving action and ask why God did it. Since God is love, love is His self-expression. … God is holy, even thrice holy; yet it is never said God is holiness. Love is the very essence of God. It is not the love is God (which is an idolatrous statement), but that God is love. … [T]he love of God is spontaneous. God loves because love is His very nature; the world does not necessitate love. For God in Himself is love eternally—the mutuality of love between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thus he does He does not need a world to express that love. He did not create the world and man in order to have some necessary outlet for expressing His love—without or without a world (vol. 1, 63, 65).

He goes on to say God’s love is self-giving, not self-seeking; apprehended by God’s actions; and unfathomable. It is connected to his grace, mercy, lovingkindness and goodness. (pp. 65-68).

D. Quick definition:

This attribute or perfection of God means that he is totally committed to his people, and prompts him to deal kindly and mercifully and generously with humankind.

E. What do the Scriptures teach?

We begin in the New Testament with these two most famous verses:

⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8)

¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16)

Back to the Old Covenant.

Yes, God is faithful to his covenant. Moses tells the children of Israel God also loved them, not only their ancestors, so he delivered them from the oppression of Egypt. However, this is the conditional Sinai covenant: “If … then.” If you pay attention to the laws, then the Lord will keep his covenant of love with you. The New Covenant is unconditional. But we can still draw the blessings and promises from these sacred verses.

⁸ But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. … ¹² If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. ¹³ He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. (Deut. 7:8-9, 12-13)

Yes, God’s covenant love is conditional (v. 12), but God still maintained a remnant, so he kept his covenant with them due to his covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3 and Rom. 11:5-6).

King David in the Psalms lists the blessing the Lord has bestowed on the king.

⁷ For the king trusts in the Lord; through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken. (Ps. 21:7)

⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Ps. 23:6)

The Lord tells his people how long he has loved them

³ The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness.” (Jer. 31:3)

Hosea had a difficult calling. He was to marry a prostitute, and she became unfaithful, just like Israel became unfaithful and chased other gods. Yet still the Lord loved his people.

¹ The Lord said to me, “Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods.” (Hos. 3:1)

The New Testament closes this section.

God’s love has to be expressed. In this verse he gave it the ultimate expression:

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

This verse is a blessing because it is so personal:

⁵ And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Rom. 5:5)

So in that verse, the Holy Spirit is the agent or channel of God’s love.

This verse reinforces John 3:16, using different words, but the sharing the same essential message:

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:8)

The next promise is wonderful and is a restatement of God’s total commitment to us—his covenant love:

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? […] ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:35, 37-39)

These next verses connect God’s kindness and love, teaching us that God’s mercy saved us, not our works:

⁴ But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, ⁵ he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. (Titus 3:4-5)

The Apostle John is famous for teaching us about the love of God. This verse stands in for many others:

¹ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

2 Samuel 2:6; 12:24; 1 Chronicles 16:34, 41; 17:13; 2 Samuel 22:51; Job 10:11-12; Psalms 5:7; 6:4; 13:5; 17:6-7; 25:6-7; 26:2-3; 32:10; Ps. 33:5, 18-22; 36:5-6, 10; 37:28; Isaiah. 63:7-9; Ephesians 2:4-5

F. Knowing God better through his love

God created the heavens and the earth and humanity in the beginning. He did this out of his love, not out of his need or sense of incompleteness. Now he shows us his love by giving all of humanity moral law which they can perceive through reason and conscience, also gifts of God. He did this so that humans could survive and thrive and not wipe each other out. Yet, humans did fight and quarrel and kill. Sometimes he had to judge them—the ultimate example is the moral lesson behind Noah’s flood. Yet, he ordained that humans could survive. He loved them and was totally committed to them. “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son” (Heb. 12:6). Sometimes love has to correct and discipline.

Further, God really shines and pours out his love on his people, the church. He can never stop loving his church. He could not contradict his nature. Love runs deep, undeniably part and parcel of his very essence. Can anyone square a circle? No. Can God stop loving you? No.

Finally, when God pours his love on his people, he expects it to overflow to those outside of the church. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). That is a guideline and goal to shoot for. Do we always love people? No (I surely don’t), but let’s pray that God’s love will overflow.

So, when you see someone who looks unlovable, whisper a prayer or say it in your mind, “God you love him. I don’t know him, and he looks unlovable. Just show him your love for me and through me.”

That is how we know God more deeply.

Many verses, all quoted:

God’s Love and Grace in the Torah

God’s Love and Grace in Old Testament History Books

God’s Love and Grace in Job, Psalms, and Proverbs

God’s Love and Grace in the Prophets

God’s Love and Grace in the Gospels and Acts

God’s Love and Grace in Paul’s Epistles

God’s Love and Grace in Hebrews, General Letters, and Revelation

II. Goodness

A. Brief intro.

He is good all the time and can never stop being good. It is in his very being. No matter your circumstances, he is still good. In Scripture, goodness is both moral and material—good things.

B. What do theologians say?

Mounce’s Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words teaches us first the Hebrew and then the Greek words for good.

The Hebrew noun is toba or tova. “Goodness in the OT is generally linked with material things” (Deut. 26:11; Jer. 29:32). The adjective tov or tob “means good or well; it describes goodness, beauty, and moral uprightness … ‘God himself is good.’” David said so in Psalm 23:5: “Goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.” (p. 300) In creation God said the heavens and earth were good.

For the NT, goodness (agathos) is God-centered. Only God is good (Matt. 19:17). Jesus is the high priest of good things (Heb. 9:11). Good gifts come from God (Matt. 7:11). (In the parallel passage in Luke 11:13, good means the Holy Spirit). As for humanity, goodness does not determine God’s choice of people (Rom. 9:11). Wisdom brings about goodness or good deeds (Matt. 3:10, 7:17). The adjective kalos is related to goodness. It means the “quality of an object or action that is beautiful, ordered, or virtuous and may be translated as ‘beautiful, good.’ It denotes something as being good in terms of its outward appearance or in the sense of useful or excellent.” (p. 301)

Renewal theologians J. Rodman Williams places goodness under the larger category of love. “That God is good is the ringing affirmation of the biblical witness throughout (Ps. 118:1). … The Lord is good in himself. Moreover, His goodness is constantly manifested in his creatures (Ps. 145:9)” (vol. 1, p. 87).

Reformed theologian Louis Berkhof says that goodness of God is extended to his creatures. “This may be defined as that perfection [attribute] of God which prompts Him to deal bountifully and kindly with all his creatures. It is the affection which the Creator feels towards His sentient creatures as such” (p. 70, emphasis original). Then he goes on to place God’s love, grace, mercy and longsuffering under the bigger category of goodness.

In classifying the attributes, I agree with Williams. Goodness comes under love.

C. Quick definition:

This attribute or perfection of God means that he is morally upright, and kind and generous and bountiful with his people.

D. What do the Scriptures say?

The word good, not counting its other forms (goodness, goods) is used 601 times in Scripture—too many to list even a small fraction. So let’s divide the concept by prosperity and moral uprightness.

I use the NIV here. If you would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, please go to biblegateway.com.

God’s goodness flows out to the things he made, his creation:

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. (Gen. 1:31)

God rescues the Israelites for a purpose and goal:

So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land [Egypt] into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Ex. 3:8)

In that verse, “milk and honey” is a metaphor for prosperity and an abundance of material things.

In the next verse, the Levites and foreigners receive baskets full of good things:

Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the LORD your God has given to you and your household (Deut. 26:11).

David sent men to wish this on a bad household, which he intended to come true:

Long life to you! Good health to you and your household! And good health to all that is yours! (1 Sam. 25:6)

Jeremiah denounces a false prophet who will not see:

… The good things I [God] will do for my people (Jer. 29:32)

Now let’s shift over to the moral side of goodness.

When God passed before Moses, who was hiding in a rock with God’s palm covering him, God’s goodness was revealed:

And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence.” (Ex. 33:19)

Some therefore teach that the core or essence of God is goodness. However, this neglects the other attributes of God that he has equally. All of the attributes—even love—make up God’s nature, who he is, without favoring one over the other. But as he relates to humans, he does shine an attribute on them, when they need it; in this case it was goodness. In another instance it is love. “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16).

This verse connects goodness and uprightness:

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his way (Ps. 25:8)

God is the subject of this sentence:

You are good and do what is good (Ps. 119:68)

These verses are about human character:

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear good fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit (Matt. 7:17-18)

It is a sobering truth that the next verse (7:19) says the bad tree, after God works with it, is thrown into the fire.

Luke expands the same idea in his Gospel:

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (6:45)

Yes, God calls us to have hatred, but it must be only directed against evil, and then he redirects us to the good:

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good (Rom. 12:9)

This verse comes in the context of not taking revenge, and goodness not only means a moral state but doing good things:

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:21)

After we receive salvation by grace and not our good works, we are then called to do good works:

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which he prepared in advance for us to do. (Eph. 2:10)

That verse can include good material things, and not just a moral definition.

E. So how can I know God better?

Let’s eliminate three bad ideas, so we can at the same have clarity about right ones.

First, certain people say that prosperity is unbiblical. Then they denounce TV preachers who seek materialism for its own purpose and promise Cadillacs to those who give to their ministries. The critics call it the “prosperity gospel,” a label these preachers never used or have stopped using. Nowadays very few preachers promise big houses if people give to them, so let’s leave them aside and just look at the Bible.

Goodness is tied to material prosperity. We see it in our current context with these expressions: “Goods and services,” meaning physical objects and those who serve us. A “bill of goods” means paperwork that has a list of material objects on it without real items behind, paperwork!

God promises us good things, material objects, so we can get out of poverty and live prosperously. Those who denounce prosperity often live in a nice American home with two cars, while nine-tenths of the world don’t have even a shack. So why don’t the critics give away their prosperity—their house and cars and everything else? Poverty does not come from God. It is a sign of brokenness. Jesus and his earthly father worked at general carpentry, and it is difficult to believe they were poor, when Joseph had so many mouths to feed (Mark 3:32, 6:5). Prosperity—good things—comes from God, so we can be a blessing to the impoverished.

The second deficient idea that circulates around the web is summed like this: The gospel does not make bad people good, but dead people alive! Yes, it makes dead people alive, but it also makes bad people better. It can do both.

Third, it is possible for people outside of the church and salvation to do good things, like give a billion to charity, but this does not save them before the thrice-holy God. So our theology must not be confused or deny reality—what we see with our own eyes. Salvation by good works is different from doing good works with or without salvation. Don’t merge the two categories.

To conclude, God is good no matter which trial you may be going through. He is good in his very essence. He can never stop being good. He created humans and loves them. Therefore the goodness in his being means that he expresses his goodness towards humans. He does so by giving them good things, particularly the knowledge and practical know-how to survive and thrive—to prosper.

Even though we humans share imperfectly and weakly in goodness, he still requires us to be good and do good, as he gives us the power and grace. When we get closer to God, we become better—gooder! He gives us the power to let the fruit of the Spirit grow in us: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness …. (Gal. 5:22).

Let the Spirit flow through you so you can exhibit goodness to people by being good and doing good.

III. Gracious

A. Brief intro.

Gracious literally means “full of grace.” God cannot stop being gracious and showing us favor. It is in his very nature and being.

B. Short word studies

Mounce in his Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words teaches us about the Hebrew and Greek words. The Hebrew noun ḥen (pronounced khen) “describes that which is favorable or gracious, especially the favorable disposition of one person to another” (p. 302).

The Greek noun is charis (pronounced khah-rees)—“the acceptance of and goodness toward those who cannot earn or do not deserve such gain” (p. 303). The verb in Hebrew is ḥanan (pronounced khanan) and means to be gracious, “to show mercy favor, be gracious” (ibid.). In Greek grace can be a verb, and it means the same thing.

C. What do theologians say?

Berkhof defines it simply:

The Bible generally uses the word to denote the unmerited goodness or love of God to those who have forfeited it and are by nature under a sentence of condemnation. The grace of God is the source of all spiritual blessings that are bestowed upon sinners (p. 71, emphasis original)

 Williams reminds of the conditions in the Old Covenant. Grace:

“[H]ighlights that aspect of God’s love that refers to His self-giving regardless of merit. Accordingly, it points up the way wherein God in His love has gone beyond the revelation of the law to Moses to bring salvation in Jesus Christ … The law given through Moses, for all its moral majesty in setting forth God’s will for His people, was not kept by Israel. Israel did not have a “heart for it; they continually disobeyed and finally went into captivity.” (vol. 1, p. 66)

Williams goes on to say that the grace comes through Jesus Christ.

Millard Erickson writes:

Grace is another attribute that is part of the manifold of God’s love. By this we mean that God deals with his people not on the basis of their merit or worthiness, what they deserve, but simply according to their need; in other words, he deals with them on the basis of his goodness and generosity (p. 265)

Reformed theologian John M. Frame reminds us of the covenant aspect of grace: “If God’s grace is not based in human merit, what is the reason for it?” … It is “based in his decision to save men from sin by way of covenants, by making promises and fulfilling them. This is the basic shape of God’s historical drama” (Systematic, p. 244).

D. Quick definition

It comes from Berkhof’s wonderful definition:

This attribute or perfection of God means that he gladly shows his unmerited goodness or love to those who have forfeited it and are by nature under a sentence of condemnation.

Were it not for God’s love and grace we would stand condemned forever.

E. What do the Scriptures teach?

Even when someone is in a moral or literal prison, the Lord can still favor him and deliver him out of his troubles. He did this to Joseph:

²⁰ … But while Joseph was there in the prison, ²¹ the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. (Gen. 39:20)

Grace enabled Moses to ask for pardon for the people of Israel. God answered his prayers and offered a covenant to the people, by his grace and favor, not because they deserved or earned it:

⁸ Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. ⁹ “O Lord, if I have found favor in your eyes,” he said, “then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.” ¹⁰ Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. (Ex. 34:8-10)

Favor or grace surrounds us like a shield:

¹² For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. (Ps. 5:12, ratsōn or “favor”)

Yes, God shows momentary anger in both the Old and New Covenants, but in the New, he does not show it to his people except by law enforcement (Rom. 13:4-5). In this Old he showed it to his people, but only for a moment:

⁵ For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Ps. 30:5)

These verses reveal God’s heart. He yearns to show his people grace and favor:

¹⁸ Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! ¹⁹ O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. (Is. 30:18-19)

We can shout grace at problems and challenges. Speaking grace is important.

⁶ Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. ⁷ Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (Zech. 4:6-7)

In the New Covenant, we experience God’s grace and favor through Christ. He has inaugurated a covenant of grace, not law-keeping to achieve righteousness:

²² This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Rom. 3:22-24)

God’s grace and love and mercy are connected:

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. (Eph. 2:4-9)

The Spirit is called the Spirit of grace, thus matching the other two members of the Triunity:

… ““the Spirit of grace”…. (Heb. 10:29)

Genesis 6:8; 39:4, 20; Exodus 3:21; 12:35; Numbers 6:25; Deuteronomy 4:37; Psalms 4:1; 5:12; 6:2; 9:13; 25:16; 26:11; 27:7; 30-4-7; 41:4, 9-10; 45:2.

F. Knowing God better through his grace

Those verses go deep and are rich.

God created humans, and they went astray; therefore he is reaching out to them even when they slap his hand away. His love and grace motivate him to act—it is in his nature, in his very being to love and pour grace and favor on his creation. God can never stop being gracious. He will always show it to people.

Yes, God loves everyone, but they do not love him back. Humans have enough free will—another gracious gift of God—to resist his grace and calling on their lives. But don’t resist. It’s time so surrender to him and his Son.

Let’s end on a positive note.

God yearns to be gracious to you and bestow his favor on you. You don’t deserve them, but he wants to offer them to you. He created you, and he takes responsibility for you, much like parents take responsibility to care for their child. God reaches out to you, no matter what you do. The good news is that even when human parents are dysfunctional, God never is. God will show grace and love and favor even in the worst cases—especially in those cases.

Many verses, all quoted:

God’s Love and Grace in the Torah

God’s Love and Grace in Old Testament History Books

God’s Love and Grace in Job, Psalms, and Proverbs

God’s Love and Grace in the Prophets

God’s Love and Grace in the Gospels and Acts

God’s Love and Grace in Paul’s Epistles

God’s Love and Grace in Hebrews, General Letters, and Revelation

IV. Compassion and Mercy

A. Brief intro.

Lovingkindness is also covered here.

Compassion and mercy are active. They act.

B. What do scholars say?

In Hebrew the verb raḥam (47 times) (pronounced rakham) means “to have compassion on, show mercy, take pity on and show love.” The noun raḥ^amim (39 times) (pronounced rach’meem) means “compassion, mercy, pity.” Both words are related to the word for “womb,” when a woman feels close to and love for the human life growing there. It’s deep in God, too.

In the New Testament the Greek noun is difficult to pronounce: splanchnon, which is used 11 times, mostly in Paul’s writings. It means feelings of affection, tenderness, compassion, pity and refers to the intestines or the deep part of us. The verb is splanchnizomai and is used 12 times, exclusively in the Gospels. “It describes the compassion Jesus had for those he saw in difficulty” (Mounce, New Expository Dictionary, p. 128).

The other Greek words are eleos (noun), eleēmōn (noun) and eleeō (verb). They mean “mercy” and “to show mercy.”

C. Quick definition:

The attributes or perfections of God means that he takes pity on, shows love for, and is moved to help his people, when they suffer or are in trouble or need and do not deserve them.

D. What do the Scriptures teach?

In this section we look at this attribute through the lens of declarations about God’s being (he is compassionate) and through the lens of God’s actions in the world (he shows compassion), quoting the Old Testament

I use the NIV here. If you would like to see the following verses in many translations and in their contexts, please go to biblegateway.com.

God chooses those on whom he will have compassion at a time when he was about to reveal himself, which means he is sovereign and can read hearts. He chose Moses to receive a full revelation of who God is (but not in his entirety or fullness):

And the Lord said, “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. (Ex. 33:19)

David cried out to the LORD to show him compassion after he sinned with Bathsheba:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. (Ps. 51:1)

Here is a double use of compassion or pity:

As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. (Ps. 103:13)

God is full of this wonderful attribute:

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. (Ps. 116:5)

It is great:

Your compassion, Lord, is great; preserve my life according to your laws. (Ps. 119:156)

Here the Lord teaches us how much he promises compassion for Israel’s deliverance, even when the people did not fully trust in him:

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! (Is. 30:18)

These verses promise Israel (and us) restoration:

He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. …  Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. … Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! (Is. 49:10, 13, 15)

Once again God promises restoration to Israel (and us) when the people left him, linking love and compassion:

I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice,
in love and compassion. ²⁰ I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the Lord. (Hos. 2:19-20)

In Judah’s later history, God will restore his people out of his compassion:

I will strengthen Judah and save the tribes of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them. (Zech. 10:6)

Rather than quoting the passages as we did above for the Old Testament, let’s briefly introduce the context and give the references. Here are the words splanchnon (pronounced splan-khnon) and splanchnizomai (splan-khnee-zo-my)

Jesus had compassion on those who had no shepherd (Matt. 9:36; cf. Mark 6:34).

He was moved with compassion for those who had no food. (Matt. 15:32; cf. Mark 8:2).

His compassion led him to heal the sick (Matt. 14:14).

Lepers received his compassion through healing (Mark 1:31).

The demonized daughter of a father was set free by his compassion (Mark 9:22).

The blind received their sight because of his compassion (Matt. 20:34).

He was moved with compassion to raise from the dead a widow’s only son who had been carried on a bier to be buried (Luke 7:13).

In the New Testament Jesus alone showed compassion in its verb form (splanchnizomai), while the Greek verb is not used of God, except when the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son represents the heavenly Father (Luke 15:20); and the compassionate king who forgave a servant his debt represents the compassionate heavenly Father in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:27). In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan shows compassion (Luke 10:25-37, specifically v. 33). And in one instance Zachariah, the father of John the (future) Baptist, when he was filled with the Holy Spirit in his prayer and praise, said that God has “compassion” or “tender mercies” (Luke 1:78).

Now we shift to the other Greek words eleos, eleēmōn, and eleeō (verb).

“I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Rom. 9:15, cf. Ex. 33:19).

God shows mercy on those who are disobedient (Rom. 11:32).

God showed mercy on Paul, even though he acted against God and his people (1 Tim. 1:13, 16).

Jesus was made fully human so that in heaven he could become the merciful and faithful high priest (Heb. 2:17).

In Mary’s song of praise, God’s mercy extends to those who fear him (Luke 1:50).

God is rich in love and mercy (Eph. 2:4).

Mercy triumphs over judgment (Jas. 2:13).

In his mercy he has given us new birth (1 Pet. 1:3).

We are called to wait for mercy from God as we wait for Jesus to bring us to eternal life (Jude 22).

From Jesus’s actions we can now declare his essence or nature thus: Jesus Christ is compassionate.

Verses about God’s pity: Ps. 72:13; Mark 9:22; Luke 17:13

E. How do I get to know God better?

You can get to know God better by seeing compassion act in your life.

Are you in trouble or suffering, whether self-inflicted or inflicted by others? If it’s self-inflicted, God will still show compassion on you, to lead you out of your troubles—and not to do it again. “Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). Remember the verses, above, that say Paul received mercy when he acted against God. He specializes in displaying his compassion on moral failures and disobedience. The more degraded and disobedient you become, the more you qualify for God’s mercy. It’s an inverse relationship. The self-righteous receive little mercy until they realize their deep need for it.

Next, if your troubles come from living life down here in a fallen, imperfect world, through no fault of your own, then God is for you, not against you. He will take pity you and deliver you from your distress or through your distress (Ps. 23). Either way, God is with you.

Further, we must give compassion away. In the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35, a servant owed a king ten thousand bags of gold, when one bag was worth about 20 years of wages—an exorbitant amount calculated to shock the listeners. The servant fell on his knees and begged for time and leniency. The king “took pity” (splanchnizomai) and cancelled his debt.

However, as soon as the servant left and rounded the corner, he saw a fellow-servant who owed him a hundred silver coins or about a 100 days of wages. The first servant grabbed the second one by the neck and choked him. The second one also fell to his knees and begged for time and leniency. But the first servant had the man thrown in prison.

Then the king heard about the injustice and absence of mercy in the servant he had just forgive and called him back. “‘Shouldn’t you have had the mercy (eleeō) on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how your heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart” (vv. 33-35).

We must show mercy and compassion and give them away. They are not static in our soul, but kinetic, to be unleashed to help humanity. Compassion and mercy are active. They act. Do it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Works Cited