"GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME, A SINNER"

“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up unto the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

The parable of the “Pharisee” and “Publican” as told here by the Lord in the book of Luke, is a great descriptive example of the behavior of many today in the church. For many will stand before the Lord in prayer declaring their “righteousness” based solely upon their outward works, while others will confess their sins before the Lord, seek His mercy and forgiveness, and receive justification. Before one can be “healed”, he must first express the need for “healing”. In like manner, before one can receive “forgiveness”, he must FIRST confess to The Lord His sin. Otherwise, without confession and repentance, the sin remains.

Here we have two men who went into the temple to pray. Now notice the scriptures says that “two men” went up into the temple to pray, NOT one righteous man and one unrighteous man, nor one just man and one unjust man, but only described them first as being that of TWO MEN. Thus in the eyes of the Lord they were the same. They both walked in the doors as sinners, but only ONE walked out of the doors forgiven and set free. The first, a “Pharisee” (namely, one who outwardly appears to be righteous and holy and who believes his righteousness is based upon his good works) instantly began his prayer NOT in confession of any sort, nor even PRAISE unto the Lord, but glorification of himself. He starts off by saying “God, I thank thee….” Now had he’d stopped there and began truly giving thanks unto the Lord his prayer may have had some value. However, as he continued, his prayer became more of a “statement” and/or “declaration of arrogance and pride. And it would almost appear based upon the detailed description he gave of himself, that rather than he being thankful of the Lord, the Lord should be grateful to have such a committed and “righteous” servant as he. “God, I thank thee” he says, but then goes on to say he gives thanks because he’s not like other men who are adulterers, thieves, etc. but that he is a righteous and just man. And he base his righteousness simply upon this: “I fast twice in the week, and I give tithes of all that I possess”. He focused only upon all that he did OUTWARDLY, while the Lord focused on the INWARD. This Pharisee walked away with only the praise he gave of himself from his own mouth. He received nothing from the Lord.

Standing afar off was the publican. The shame of his sins were so great upon himself that he could not stand as the Pharisee stood and proclaim “greatness”. He could not so much as open his mouth and speak anything that would declare his “righteousness” as the Pharisee did. He knew the Lord knew all of the sinful works of his flesh, thus he could not cover the evil deeds by proclaim any good works. Even the secret sins of his heart and/or sinful thoughts in his mind though hidden from man, he knew had been revealed to the Great “I AM”, thus he was aware of his exposure to the Lord. So, he held his head low to ashamed to even look up, and thus acknowledged himself before the Lord by beating his hand upon his chest, saying: “GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER” He didn’t attempt to try and explain away his sins, or to give excuse in an attempt to try and justify his behavior but simply cried out: “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” His prayer, his simple one line prayer caused him to go back to his home justified in the eyes of the Lord. Not simply because he uttered the words, but because from his heart he repented. He was genuinely sorry, so sorry that it caused him shame to even look up and pray, or to even go near the altar as he stood afar off. However, he was exposed before the Lord. His genuine and humble heart caught the attention of the Father. In the eyes of the Lord here was a man that desired deliverance, a man that desired to be made whole, and a man who took responsibility for his sins by acknowledging them and repenting of them from his HEART. Here’s a man that can be washed clean, here in this man was the humble spirit of REPENTANCE. He went away justified because of his confession from the heart, and the Pharisee went away unjustified because he attempted to conceal the truth of his heart by focusing only on his works.

The truth is my friends, ALL have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God thus none can truly boast as the Pharisee, for if we boast we boast only of the mercy, goodness and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. None of our works have given us favor before the Lord, but our confession of faith. The bible says: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1^st John 1:8) And again, “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1^st John 1:10) But, “If we CONFESS our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1^st John 1:9) But, you see the cleaning process, and the forgiving process cannot begin until we first CONFESS. Therefore we must be as the publican was having no excuse, having no explanation, but simply crying out from our HEARTS in TRUE REPENTANCE…..”GOD BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER.” I know that he will hear this prayer, for he heard ME when I to uttered these words and like the publican, I stood before him to ashamed to even lift my eyes…….

I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!

http://www.christring.org/khandie/GodBeMericfulToMeASinner.htm