Friday 20 February 2026

Psalm 144

Background
Our reading today opens with Jonah feeling deeply displeased with God and becoming angry. Jonah is unhappy because God has acted exactly as Jonah knew he would. Jonah knows that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and full of steadfast love (v. 2).

Jonah has already experienced this mercy himself. Inside the belly of the great fish, God gave him a second chance, which Jonah gratefully accepted. Yet when God shows that same steadfast love to the people of Nineveh: Jonah is furious! He is such a hypocrite!

In Matthew 18, Jesus tells the parable of the unforgiving servant: a servant is forgiven a huge debt and then refuses to forgive someone who owes him very little. Jesus teaches against such hypocrisy. He makes it clear that his followers are expected to offer the same mercy and forgiveness to others that they themselves have received.

Nineveh was in the region we now call Iraq. Its people were not Jewish, and yet God extended mercy to them. As followers of Jesus, we cannot try to keep God’s goodness only for ourselves, nor should we become angry when God pours out goodness on others.

Today, the rise of nationalism often encourages closing borders, deciding who belongs and who does not, and diminishing or dehumanising those who are 'other'. This is not the way of God. God’s mercy, grace, forgiveness and steadfast love are not for one group alone; God sent his son because he loved the whole world (John 3:16).

The steadfast love we receive from God is meant to be shared with all people, not only those who appear like us. Jesus underlines this when he teaches the lawyer who tried to test him by sharing the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Jesus teaches that the one who has mercy towards another human being is the true neighbour. God’s mercy, grace, forgiveness and steadfast love know no borders, and neither should the way we share these gifts.

To Ponder:

• Are there situations where you have struggled to celebrate God’s grace because it challenges your assumptions, boundaries or sense of fairness?
• Are there practical choices you can make to share mercy, compassion or forgiveness more widely?

Prayer
Gracious and merciful God, you are slow to anger and rich in steadfast love. Thank you for the mercy you have shown to us, mercy we did not earn, but freely received. Help us to share that same mercy with others. Where we hold on to anger, soften our hearts. Where we draw borders, broaden our compassion. Where we resent your goodness to others, teach us to rejoice in your love for the whole world. Make us people who reflect your grace, your forgiveness and your boundless love, without limits, without fear and without exception. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd David Hardman
David Hardman is currently serving as the Methodist Liaison Officer, Jerusalem for the Methodist Church in Britain. Ordained in 1994, he has served churches and circuits in the city centre and in the inner city and suburbs of Manchester and London. He has also worked for Christian Aid as Senior Regional Coordinator in the North West of England and most recently was the Methodist Team Leader of the Joint Public Issues Team. Justice and peace have been at the heart of David’s ministry; he is an accredited mediator with Place for Hope and a committed activist.