But after he had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guilt, LORD, for doing this foolish thing.”

The next morning the word of the LORD came to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the LORD says: I will give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.’”

So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three years of famine throughout your land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three days of severe plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the LORD who sent me.”

“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to Gad. “But let us fall into the hands of the LORD, for his mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

2 Samuel 24:10-14

The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out,
“Yahweh! The LORD!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
Exodus 34:6

• God is merciful.
• To extend mercy is to withhold a rightly deserved punishment or judgment against someone. 
• To say that God is merciful is to say that He is compassionate, patient, caring, forgiving, tender-hearted, selfless, loving, gracious, and kind. 
• Psalm 103:8-17
• 2 Corinthians 1:3
• James 5:11
• 2 Peter 3:9
• Mercy is an attribute of God. 
• Mercy is not something God has, but something that God is. 
• The Old Testament and New Testament declare the mercy of God. 
• The word mercy appears in the Old Testament over four times more often than the New Testament. 
• David faced judgment. 
• God gave him a choice. 
• David had to choose between falling into the hands of man, or into the hands of God. 
• David knew the mercy of God. 
• In His judgment, God remembers mercy. 

Be thankful for the mercy of God, shown to us by the cross of Jesus Christ. 
Be thankful that God is merciful.