And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
This verse comes from one of the most intimate moments in the Bible — a private encounter between God and Moses, the leader God chose to bring the Israelites out of centuries of slavery in Egypt. Just before this exchange, the Israelites had committed a devastating betrayal: while Moses was receiving God's laws on a mountain, the people built and worshiped a golden calf, shattering the covenant relationship. Moses, desperate for reassurance, asked God to show him His glory — the most direct encounter with the divine he could imagine. God's response is tender: He will cause His goodness to pass before Moses, proclaim His name (a sign of intimate relationship and trust), and extend mercy and compassion. The final phrase — 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy' — is a declaration that God's mercy flows entirely from His own character, not from human deserving or effort.
God, I don't fully understand how Your mercy works, and I'm slowly learning to be okay with that. What I know is that You showed Moses Your goodness — and You have shown me Yours. Help me stop striving to earn what You have already freely offered. Amen.
After everything had collapsed — the golden calf, the broken tablets, the covenant in ruins — Moses doesn't retreat. He walks back toward God and makes the most audacious request in the Old Testament: 'Show me your glory.' Not 'give us another chance.' Not 'just tell me the plan.' He asked for God Himself. And the answer he received wasn't a strategy or a revised set of rules. It was a character: goodness, mercy, compassion. That's what divine glory looks like up close — not raw power, but presence. Not judgment, but goodness passing by. The phrase 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy' has unsettled theologians for centuries. It sounds almost arbitrary — until you realize it isn't a threat. It's a declaration of freedom. God's mercy isn't transactional. You cannot earn it by being good enough, which also means you cannot forfeit it by failing badly enough. It flows from who God is, not from what you've managed to produce. That's deeply uncomfortable if you need to control it. But it becomes the most solid ground imaginable when you're standing in the rubble of something you can't fix, and you desperately need something that doesn't move.
What do you think Moses was really asking for when he said 'show me your glory,' and what does that request reveal about the kind of relationship he had cultivated with God?
When you hear that God's mercy isn't based on your behavior or performance, does that bring you relief, discomfort, or both — and what does your reaction tell you about how you actually see God?
The phrase 'I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy' has troubled many readers. How do you personally wrestle with the idea of God's sovereign freedom in how and to whom He extends grace?
How would believing more deeply in God's goodness — not just His power or His rules — change how you treat people in your life who have failed or deeply disappointed you?
Is there an area of your life where you have been striving to earn God's mercy rather than receive it? What would it actually look like to stop striving and simply receive it this week?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel .
Isaiah 7:14
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
Micah 7:18
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Romans 9:18
Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
Ephesians 1:8
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:6
Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Exodus 34:7
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
Numbers 6:25
And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?
Exodus 3:13
And God said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the Name of the LORD before you; for I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion (lovingkindness) on whom I will show compassion."
AMP
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
ESV
And He said, 'I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.'
NASB
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
NIV
Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
NKJV
The LORD replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.
NLT
God said, "I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you; I'll call out the name, God, right before you. I'll treat well whomever I want to treat well and I'll be kind to whomever I want to be kind."
MSG