The Plea of the Unworthy

“Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.” {Matthew 20:34}

I was reading in Matthew the other day about Christ’s compassion on the blind men, when this phrase, “have mercy on us,” jumped out at me.

The plea of the unworthy.

I originally came across this phrase in the Psalms. The psalmist often cries out for God’s mercy.

“Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.” (Ps. 4:1b)

“Have mercy upon me, O Lord;” (Ps. 6:2)

 “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me;” (Ps. 25:16)

“Have mercy also upon me, and answer me.” (Ps. 27:7)

“Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me:” (Ps. 30:10)

“Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble:” (Ps. 31:9)

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness:” (Ps. 51:1)

As I reflected on what the blind men were saying in Matthew, I was struck with the humility of these men. They knew they were unworthy of their petition, yet they cried out for the mercy of the Savior. 

They knew they deserved less than what they were about to ask.

And they still cried out for mercy.

“Have mercy on me” is not the cry of someone who thinks they deserve something from the person they’re petitioning. It’s the cry of one who knows they are unworthy. They demonstrate a humility that we often lack when we confess our sins. We ought to cry out for mercy, more mercy.

Do you beg God for mercy when you’re repenting of the sin you’ve committed against His holy nature? Our salvation does not mean we are suddenly deserving of God’s mercy. On the contrary, we still do not deserve the awesome mercy of our great God.

The beggars were not worthy of God’s mercy and neither are we. What makes us think we are no longer in such great need of God’s mercy than the day we were saved?

We are dust. We are sinners. We need God’s mercy. We ought to cry out like the psalmist, like the two blind men in Matthew, and like Bartimaeus in Mark,

“Have mercy on me!”