“Have mercy upon me, O God” (Psalms 51:1).

When the famous missionary to India, William Carey, was suffering from a dangerous illness, he was asked, “If this sickness should prove fatal, what Scripture would you select as the text for your funeral sermon?” He replied, “Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything said about him; but if a funeral sermon must be preached, let it be from the words, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” In the same spirit of humility he directed the following inscription  be put on his gravestone: "A wretched, poor, and helpless worm. On Thy kind arms I fall."

The best of saints are conscious, they’re helpless apart from grace. Nominal Christians boast of their achievements, but true children of God cry for mercy because they’re painfully aware they do only a fraction of what God gives them the grace to do.

We need the Lord to have mercy upon our good works, our prayers, our preaching, our charity, and our holiest things. Sin intrudes into everything we do for God. The blood of Jesus is needed to purify our efforts. How sweet is His mercy, waiting to be gracious to us, to restore our backslidings and renew our resolve!