Mercy for Today: A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51

by Jonathan Parnell

You cannot make it without God’s mercy.   Do we just need God’s grace in dark and shameful moments? Are prayers for mercy only for those times when we really mess up? Jonathan Parnell says we need God’s mercy all the time. In fact, contrary to many church cultures, Parnell shows that asking God for mercy should be as regular as asking God for our daily bread.   There’s no doubt that David was in a terrible predicament when he first prayed the words of Psalm 51. It was a dark and shameful moment in the Bible, and one so dark and shameful it seldom feels relevant to us today. But David’s most desperate prayer is really a prayer for all of us—and not just for our worst moments, but for our every moment. In these pages, you'll how to pray a daily, memorable prayer derived from Psalm 51how to practice daily repentance and soul carehow to pursue God and experience his joy in the Christian life This is God’s mercy, and it’s Mercy for Today.  

Genres: Prayer, Christian, Faith, Christianity

92 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 7, 2020

About the author

Jonathan Parnell is the lead pastor of Cities Church in Minneapolis-St.Paul, a church he and his team planted in 2015. He is the Send Network’s City Missionary in the Twin Cities, where he also serves as a church-planting trainer. He is the author of Never Settle for Normal: The Proven Path to Significance and Happiness (2017) and coauthor of How to Stay Christian in Seminary (2014). He and his wife, Melissa, live in the Twin Cities with their eight children.

Reviews

[S. Paterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short book, neatly packaged in a beautiful, square clothbound hardcover that makes it a great gift item. Parnell takes a close look at five verses in Ps. 51 (vv. 1, 15, 10, 11, and 12) and does a great job illustratively applying David's prayer to our lives.

[Rob Sumrall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short book is packed with excellent exegesis of Psalm 51, heart-warming encouragement, and life-challenging application. Parnell takes the reader inside of David’s struggle and helps us see ourselves in need of renewal, restoration of joy, and in the safe arms of Jesus. An excellent read!

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

After following Jonathan Parnell on Twitter for a while now, I was excited to hear of his new book, Mercy for Today: A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51. This small, square book is packed with exultation in the faithful mercies of God. I personally appreciated the author's consistent pastoral tone. We all need God's mercy. We all need to walk in ongoing humble repentance. And the more we behold the glory, the greatness, and steadfast love of God the more we want to walk close to Him, enjoying Him.

Some favorite quotes from the book:
- "I had used God's heart, and David's hope, as a trump card to throw down whenever I sinned. Understanding God's heart had not changed my own, it had just given me an 'out' when I failed. I realized that I had presumed upon the riches of God's kindness, and that it had turned me into stone." (p. 21)
- "So I'm going to say it, and I mean it: For most everything you encounter on an average, daily basis, your greatest need is not a change of your situation, it's a change of you. David shows us how to pray that way: God, create in me a clean heart! Do the work in me first." (p. 66)
- "We might be afraid that we can't trust God's love because we know we aren't really that lovable, but that's exactly the point. It's a love that we can trust precisely because it's bound up in God's character, not our lovability." (p. 99)

This book was a blessing to me and I highly recommend it to others. Jonathan Parnell has done a wonderful job pointing to the glory and greatness of God which gives stabilizing hope for our lives.


I was provided a free copy of Mercy for Today: A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51 with the request to provide a non-biased book review.

[Lynnette · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little devotional book. All the interpretations and ideas are biblical, but his delivery sometimes seemed forced to drive your emotions. It seemed like he was trying really hard to be inspirational and have quotable sentences over having substance. Still good, just short and a bit unnecessarily dramatic. Probably not big enough for a discussion book.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book is the Psalms, and Psalm 51 is a standout text of Scripture. David's dark and shameful moment is often reserved for meditation during our worst moments. In this book, Jonathan Parnell preaches that Psalm 51 is for our every moment. Repentance requires much mercy.

Jonathan Parnell is the lead pastor of Cities Church in Minneapolis-St. Paul, a church-planting trainer, and author. Interestingly, he and his wife, Melissa, have eight children. With so many lives in one household, I can only imagine how much joy, sorrow, laughter, and crying he can handle. And so he writes this book with an urgency that can only come from a father seeking to impart God's Word and wisdom to his family.

A Daily Prayer for the Praise of God

Each chapter of this book focuses on a specific verse in Psalm 51. In Chapter 1, People Like Us, the spotlight is on Psalm 51:1. Parnell shares a personal story of how a car accident, while he was in high school, changed his life trajectory. He shows us how praying Psalm 51 is not just for when we experience moments of intense desperation. Rather, it should be prayed for the mercy we need every day.

Chapter 2, Praise, focuses on Psalm 51:15. Parnell says that instead of creating the praise of God, Christians are called to participate in it. He explains and helps us come to terms with this fundamental truth: God's reality is not diminished by our inability to comprehend him. It humbles our pride. It affects our moral framework and psychological framework. And the implications are clear: We worship in waiting and in whatever comes our way.

Our Hearts and God’s Presence

Psalm 51: 10 is the text for Chapter 3. Here we are brought to the center of the Gospel - God is all about changing our hearts. Parnell brings us to what I consider to be the most famous statements in Psalm 51 - a clean heart and a broken and contrite heart. In another memorable illustration, Parnell shows how we often let our hearts guide us - but our hearts are not trustworthy and they cause us to be out of control. Rightfully, he concludes that we need the grace of God to change our hearts every day.

God's presence is the point of Chapter 4, and Parnell tells of how we all ask God at some point not to leave us. Using Psalm 51: 11 as a starting point, he then shows us how the Bible develops this theme in four acts: presence lost, presence promised, presence realized, and presence secured. He ends with the assurance that God's nearness is our good.

Mercy and Joy

Chapter 5 ends the book with a look at Joy. Psalm 51:12 is the text, and it is here where David is asking God for an emotion. You will see John Piper's influence on Jonathan Parnell in this chapter. We are left with the impression that our joy is for the glory of God and the good of others.

The book concludes with Lamentations 3:22-23 - and how God's mercies are new every morning. It is a fitting conclusion to a book that dives deep into one of the darkest chapters of the Bible. This book is saturated with the light of Jesus Christ. And it has given me hope that a new day is dawning.

I was provided a free copy of Mercy for Today - A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51 but was not required to write a positive review.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I read Psalm 51, I usually have two trains of thought. The first is that this was written by a man (David) who committed a string of terrible sins. He did not go into battle with his men, he watched a woman bathing, was intimate with this married woman, tried to deceive her husband, and then had him killed. What sin could I possibly commit that would compare to this? Therefore, this Psalm must not apply to my life because I am not such an awful sinner.

My second train of thought when reading this Psalm is that David was the King of Israel. He was hand-picked by God and called “a man after God’s own heart”. I am just me, a servant of the Lord, teacher, and mother. I am not as important as David, therefore, if I offered up a Psalm like this to God, would he even care?

I found deeper clarity on Psalm 51 when I read Mercy for Today: A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51 by Jonathan Parnell. This book is a small hardcover book, only 116 pages, but it packs a punch. I discovered as I read through this book, that Psalm 51 is not just a prayer for a horrible sinner, or for a king chosen by God to rule Israel. It is a prayer for all of us, every moment of every day. Which one of us can say that we do not need God’s mercy? Or that we do not commit some type of sin on a daily basis? Thankfully, God’s mercy and forgiveness covers us despite our sin, and praying Psalm 51 daily can keep us humble and allow us to soak in this wonderful mercy.

This book is broken into five sections: People Like Us, Praise, Change, Presence, and Joy. It teaches us to praise the Lord, allow Him to change and renew our hearts, ask Him to remain with us, and finding true joy in Him. All of these sections follow along with a part of Psalm 51.

Some of my favorite quotes from this book included:

“God didn’t leave us to ourselves to figure out who he is, or how to come to him – and as we pray the psalms, we are learning both.”
“God is the God you can’t imagine. He is the God outside of us. And yet, we’re still here, in this world, in the picture, and what we think about God matters. God made us, and he gave us mouths for a reason. There are lots of reasons, in fact, for why we have mouths, but the main reason in David’s mind in Psalm 51:15, is God’s praise.”
“So I’m going to say it, and I mean it: For most everything you encounter on an average, daily basis, your greatest need is not a change of your situation, it’s a change of you.”
“There is the truth about God’s presence, which the Bible gives us, but then there is also the human experience of God’s presence, which we find in the psalms. More than a fact that we acknowledge, God’s presence is a reality we ought to desire. It is something we value, something we want. The nearness of God is our joy.”

If you want to draw closer to God, get a better understanding of Psalm 51, and surround yourself with his mercy, I highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Mercy for Today. I received a copy of this book from B & H Publishers in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Amy King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mercy for Today: A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51 provides a different perspective of Psalm 51. Psalm 51 is not just a desperate prayer for those in need but an essential daily prayer. Parnell encourages us to live an entire life of repentance which requires mercy. A life of daily repentance through prayer and awareness of His Presence.
Parnell explained how walking with God is walking in mercy. It's a beautiful picture of total dependence and surrender. The author in detail through each verse of Psalm 51 shows how God is always present in our life. And when we open our lives up to Him not only does God restore us but fills us with joy. This joy overflows to everyone we encounter. Joy that leads to continuous praise to Him. There's a prayer at the end of each chapter that captures the heart and leads us right into the journey of walking with Him.
This book is small and only 117 pages but it is power packed. Grab a copy and embrace His mercy!

[Isaiah Langenfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a deep appreciation for this short, little book. Two great realities are emphasized: 1) God is merciful, and 2) our whole lives, day in and day out, need the mercy of God. As people who also have hearts distorted from the reality of God, like King David, we too can sit in this psalm with the same plea for mercy, but not just that but for God Himself. In Mercy For Today, Jonathan Parnell brings to light the heart of God and true nature of Psalm 51. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to be encouraged and to pray more intimately themselves.


I was provided a free copy of Mercy for Today - A Daily Prayer from Psalm 51 but was not required to write a positive review.

[Kevin Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

help look at a key Psalm

I enjoyed this short book that looks at Psalm 51. He handles the text really well, but it’s also very applicable for daily life. It is certainly a Psalm that I want to pray more myself.

[Karl Dumas · Rating 4 out of 5]

We often talk about God’s mercy, and for the most part, we’re glad that our God is so merciful, at least when it comes to not judging us as harshly as we deserve—and maybe we wish He wasn’t quite as merciful when it comes to some of the other people that we know. Perhaps you have a definition of mercy, a few words that explain that we don’t get what we deserve: and that’s a good thing.
But what does mercy really mean, and how does it factor in our own life, and even though God doesn’t charge us to be merciful to us, I think that He expects that out of gratitude, we will do certain things. Jonathan Parnell uses Psalm 51 as a starting point and talks about mercy. His insights are found in Mercy for Today: a Daily Prayer form Psalm 51( B&H Publishing, 2020)
Parnell starts the introduction by reminding the reader that God is merciful and because God is merciful, we can repent. He suggests that we 1) need to understand God’s mercy at the head level so that we can 2) testify of God’s mercy from our own personal experience.
And as we learn to testify to God’s mercy we see how we can praise God, for what he’s doing in our lives, and then we become willing to change, and hopefully actually do so, then we experience God’s presence, and start to live that life of joy that the Psalmist talks about, and which many years later the Apostle Paul would write about from his prison cell in Philippi.
This book is a great help in understanding mercy as it’s recorded in Lamentations (3:22-23) It’s new every morning.
As a member of the B&H blogger’s program, I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review,
4/5