Thoughts on Matthew 5:7 and Psalm 41:1-3

Thoughts on Matthew 5:7 and Psalm 41:1-3 by John W. Ritenbaugh

"Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy."

  Psalm 41:1-3

"Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.  The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies. The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed." 

This should not be the major reason for being kind. Yet God, who is ever ready to give and bless, has of His own will inspired these words for our benefit, so we understand that our efforts in glorifying Him and His way do not go unnoticed.

It is a promise we can claim whenever we get into a bind. He who enables us to be kind and generous to others in their need will respond by providing us a helper in our need.

Jesus says in Luke 6:38:

"Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you."

This is very wonderful motivation for those who believe God's Word, but perhaps there is even greater. Being merciful and kind is evidence that God has given us His Spirit—that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts and is producing fruit.

For proof of the importance of passing on God's kindness —expressed in His calling, forgiving, giving us His Spirit, and promising we will receive yet more mercy for being merciful— listen to Jesus' words in Matthew 25:34-36, 40:

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. . . . And the King will answer and say to them, Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."