I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy. (Hosea 2:23)
“I will not have mercy” are the most terrifying words a sinner can hear from the mouth of the Lord. These words will destroy the souls of the unrepentant sinner on the Day of Judgment. These words will echo round the chambers of hell forever: “I will not have mercy.” And who can argue with them?
Those who spend their earthly days saying, “I don’t want mercy,” can hardly complain when at the end of their days God grants them their request eternally, “You didn’t want mercy, and so you will not have mercy.” These words dash every dream and quash every hope, “I will not have mercy.” Oh, mercy-spurning sinner, will this be your death sentence? Will you ever hear these “No Outlet” words?
Oh, my soul, woe is me! Have I not rejected God’s offered mercy time and again? How many times I have whispered in my soul, “I will not have mercy.” How many times I have stubbornly insisted, “I want merit, not mercy. I want to be a creditor who is owed, not a debtor who can never repay.” And now, here I am hastening to judgment and eternity with neither merit nor mercy. Oh woe, woe is me!
But here is hope, despairing soul. Israel was just like you; she refused mercy time after time. She was judged by the removal of mercy in foreign exile (Hos. 1:6). But God looks down in pity on her merciless condition and says, “I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy.” What a turning point! What tear-drying, heart-rejoicing, dream-fulfilling words of hope!
Go to the Lord and say, “I have not obtained mercy because I did not need nor want mercy. But now I desperately need it and earnestly want it. I abandon all my imagined merit. Oh Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner.” And wait, what do you hear? Can it be, “I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy”?
And dear Christian of many years, recall what turned your life around. It wasn’t your merit or will; it was God’s mercy and God’s will. It was when He said—oh, blessed moment—“I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy.”