Psalm 51:1-2 NLT 
'Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.'
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were tried in 1950s America for espionage. The Manhattan Project, through which the USA developed the nuclear bomb, was top secret and the Rosenbergs were identified as Soviet spies. The trial was a long and bitter one, and much controversy, then and now, surrounds their conviction and execution. As the final sentence was pronounced, the lawyer for the Rosenbergs cried out: “Your Honour, what my clients ask for is justice!” Judge Kaufman replied: “What the court has given them is what they ask, justice! What they really want is mercy. But mercy is something this court has no right to give them.” 
Mercy is the gift of God alone. St Isaac the Syrian wrote: ‘Never say that God is just. If he were just you would be in hell. Rely only on His injustice which is mercy, love and forgiveness.” This was something King David discovered. The only one who has the right and capacity to give mercy is God.  
Mercy, undeserved forgiveness, is the grace gift of God for all who repent and throw themselves upon God’s mercy. I instinctively want to demand justice in a world fractured by sin. But justice can only lead to my execution and destruction within the court of God. I need mercy, and it’s mercy that God promises through the death of his own Son. I call out to God for mercy, both for myself and for my apparent friend and foe alike. 
A demand for justice arises primarily from a sense of self-righteousness. Yet, you are not and can never be righteous. Justice isn’t something any of us can secure. You can only appeal to God for mercy, just as King David did. I pray Psalm 51 virtually every day, for it reminds me that my love of self-righteousness is self-deceit. I need to pray for God’s mercy continually.  
QUESTION: Do you want justice from God – or mercy?  
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for your undeserved kindness, your mercy that never fails me, your love that overwhelms me. 

Released on 24 Aug 2020