Jeremiah 52:31: Now it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison.

King Jehoiachin was taken captive to Babylon in 597 BC, during Nebuchadnezzar’s first wave of attacks against Judah. Jehoiachin had only been king of Judah for 3 months, but Nebuchadnezzar placed King Zedekiah on the throne in Jehoiachin’s place. For 37 years he was in prison in Babylon. After Nebuchadnezzar died, his son, Evil-Merodach, took the throne and brought Jehoiachin out of prison, and though still a captive, Evil-Merodach gave the Jewish monarch more freedom and privileges. This is a picture of the mercy and grace of God, who had not forgotten His promise to King David and his offspring. We see in Matthew 1 that Jehoiachin was in the lineage of Jesus.

Mercy and grace are fundamental parts of God’s character; they are freely given and cannot be bought at any price, but we must ask for them. When Clara Barton was engaged in Red Cross work in Cuba, during the Spanish-American War, Colonel Theodore Roosevelt came to her and asked to buy some delicacies for the sick and wounded men under his command. His request was refused. Roosevelt was troubled; he loved his men, and was ready to pay for the supplies out of his own pocket. “Then how can I get these things?” he asked. “I must have proper food for my sick men.” “Just ask for them, Colonel,” came the reply. “Oh,” he said, “then I do ask for them.” And he got them at once. He received them as a gift of grace; he wasn’t able to buy them. 2 Corinthians 12:9 tells us that Jesus’ “grace is sufficient.”

“LORD, we ask again for Your grace and mercy this day to be used by You in Your great harvest of souls for eternity.”