how richly does he supply us with the means of contemplating his mercy when, as frequently happens, he continues to visit miserable sinners with unwearied kindness, until he subdues their depravity, and woos them back with more than a parent's fondnessInstitutes, Book 1 Chapter 6
God does not have mercy on someone because that person has willed and run, but he willed and ran because God has had mercy on him.Contra Julianum opus imperfectrum, bk1, c141.
God is never, never, never obligated to be merciful to sinners. That is the point we must stress if we are to grasp the full measure of God's grace.Chosen by God (26)
Learn to pity and bewail the condition of the enemy... Never grudge them their present advantages. 'Fret not thy self because of evil men. Neither be thou envious at the workers of iniquity' (Prov. 24:19). Fret not, though they spoil thy resting place. It is God that hath bidden them do it, to try thy faith and patience thereby. Wish them no ill with what they get of thine; it is their wages for their work, and it will appear to them ere long that they have earned it dearly.... Bless God that thy lot did fall on the other side.... How kindly, therefore, doth God deal with us, when he chooses to afflict us but for a little, that with everlasting kindness he may have mercy upon us (Isa 54:7–8).
What can we deserve? Can a man be profitable to the Almighty? We live upon free grace! Alexander gave a great gift to one of his subjects; the man being much taken with it, said, "this is more than I am worthy of!" "I do not give you this," said the king, "because you are worthy of it—but I give a gift like Alexander!" Whatever we have is not merit—but bounty! The least bit of bread is more than God owes to us! We can bring faggots to our own burning—but not one flower to the garland of our salvation. He who has the least mercy—will die in God's debt!
God does not always act with justice. Sometimes he acts with mercy. Mercy is not justice, but it also is not injustice. Injustice violates righteousness. Mercy manifests kindness and grace and does no violence to righteousness. We may see nonjustice in God, which is mercy, but we never see injustice in God.
You who are so apt to abuse God's mercy, consider this, that in the gospel days, the plagues that God inflicts upon the despisers and abusers of mercy are usually spiritual plagues; as blindness of mind, hardness of heart, benumbedness of conscience, which are ten thousand times worse than the worst of outward plagues which can befall you.
God shows mercy in guiding and directing us. Is it not a mercy for one that is out of the way to have a guide? [I] There is a providential guidance. God guides our affairs for us; chalks out the way he would have us to walk in. He resolves our doubts, unties our knots, and appoints the bounds of our habitation.The Ten Commandments, 70-71
God has mercy of all dimensions. He has depth of mercy, it reaches as low as sinners; and height of mercy, it reaches above the clouds.The Ten Commandments, 69
Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Have you any days of fasting and prayer? Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.