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DIVINE MERCY is God’s love reaching down to meet the needs and overcome the miseries of His creatures. The Old Testament provides us with many images of human misery and of God in His mercy seeking to relieve it. One of most poignant images of such misery is that of a woman suffering the aching loneliness of having no husband and no children - of being completely bereft in the world. This is the spiritual plight of all of us without God.

It was used by the Old Testament prophets to signify Israel being reduced to utter misery because of her sins and unfaithfulness to the Lord. But this is not the end of the story. The Lord Yahweh Himself has compassion on the woman by marrying her and making her fruitful. He reaches down to the woman in her misery and raises her up. Where there was only despair, loneliness, and heartache come joy, fruitfulness, and abiding love. An inspiring example of such steadfast divine love relieving human misery is found in the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah Chapter 54 verses 1 - 10.

As he writes, he is encouraging the Jews who are exiles in Babylon not to give up hope that God in His compassion will deliver them:

54:1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the LORD.

54:2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;

54:3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

54:4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

54:5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

54:7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

54:8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer.
54:9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee.

54:10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee.

(Is 54:1-10) King James Version. In the Old Testament, there are two principle Hebrew words that we usually translate as mercy. First of all, there is the word hesed, which means “steadfast love, covenant love.” Someone who has the attribute of hesed is someone you can always count on, someone who never lets you down.

According to the Biblical scholar John L. Mckenzie, the word hesed is often used in Hebrew in connection with other words which bring out its meaning, such as hesed-emet (steadfast, dependable love), hesedsedekah (righteous, holy love) and hesed-yesua (rescuing, saving love). In a remarkable endnote to his encyclical Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy), Pope John Paul II teaches that hesed contains the meaning of faithfulness to oneself, to one’s own promises and commitments to others (Thus, Professor Scott Hahn’s popular book on the Bible is entitled The Father Who Keeps His Promises). The Holy Father writes: When in the Old Testament the word hesed is used of the Lord, this always occurs in connection with the covenant that God established with Israel.

This covenant was, on God’s part, a gift and a grace for Israel ... God had made a commitment to respect it ... (this divine hese) showed itself as what it was at the beginning, that is, as a love that gives, love more powerful than betrayal, grace stronger than sin. As we have seen in our opening example, in a sense, the whole experience of Israel with God is an experience of His hesed-love (Is 54:10): “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love [hesed] shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.” As John L. Mckenzie has written, “The entire history of the dealing of Yahweh with Israel can be summed up as hesed; it is the dominating motive which appears in his deeds and the motive, which gives unity and intelligibility to all His dealings with men” (Dictionary of the Bible).

In the New Testament, the Greek word that is usually translated as “mercy” is the word eleos. It can also be translated as loving kindness or tender compassion. The Greek word comes from a root word meaning oil that is poured out. Thus, when the Church sings in her liturgy the Greek words Kyrie Eleison and Christie Eleison, she is praying that the merciful love of God will be poured out upon her children, like holy oil from above. “Mercy, comes from the Latin misericordia. It has two parts miseri which means “pity” and cordia meaning “heart.” Mercy is a heart full of pity or compassion for another’s suffering.” Mercy is also a legal term: The total or partial remission of a punishment to, which a convict is subject. When the whole punishment is remitted, it is called a pardon; when only a part of the punishment is remitted, it is frequently a conditional pardon; or before sentence, it is called clemency or mercy. I found that this album is a musical rendition of one woman’s complete and total surrender to God through the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is demonstrable faith in the fact that “Jesus never fails and will never let you down”. I found no prevarication in what she had to say.

She did not doubt herself at all. She declares that Jesus is the only way. This work is that of Thanksgiving and praises to God Almighty. For a debut album it is an exquisite work of art. I commend it to you as a group of songs that can bring the presence of Christ into our homes when you play it. You can use it as background music to your prayer hours or something to dance to while praising God for it is danceable from the 1st to the last of the songs Songs featured in the eight-track CD ‘Devine Mercy’ ‘Oh Bless The Lord’ – this song is centred on Psalm 145 verse 9 “The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works”. This is a number in the Congolese tradition of sukhous or Awilo – with lots of guitar string work - very danceable (reference Isaiah 54 1-10 again) ‘Baba Ese O’ – another danceable Awilo number that is still a continuation of thanking and blessing God in the Yoruba language - the dominant nationality in South West Nigeria.

The singer is thanking God for her God-fearing parents ‘In the ame of Jesus’ – This fast rocking beat is a classical and typical African piece of music commonly used in the expression of happiness or celebration. I can predict that many people will buy this album because of this very song. The singer’s joy is self evident in the way she expressed herself in this song. Her faith in the power in the Name of Jesus – the name above any other name in heaven and on earth is very clear here. This is the kind of faith that moves mountains and make impossible to be nothing “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. If you love Me, keep My commandments.

“ John 14:12-14 In the “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. – Philippians 2 V. 9 - 11. This a song for jamming in the name of the Lord Make a joyful noise – This is a reggae beat – music popularised by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It is a declaration that we are the sheep of His pasture. It is a surrender to Jesus Christ Jesus ever Fails – Back to the sukhous and awilo pattern here. A declaration of implicit trust in Jesus Christ that in him we are more than conquerors. Cast your burden unto Jesus, He will never let you down. Great is the ame of Jesus – Alleluia, praise His Name Found in Christ – This is the song of someone who has received Divine mercy from God for saving them through the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross on Calvary. A sinner once lost but now found in the amazing Grace of Jesus. Compare with the Amazing grace of John Newton Oh My dearest Brethren - This slow reggae beat is a pensive advice to Christian brethrens to continue to live in the light of Jesus Christ. She enjoins us to be ready for the rapture – when true believers with be removed from this earth to meet with the Lord.

Yemi Dawodu (profile)

YEMI DAWODU, who was born in England, sojourned homeland Nigeria a couple of times before finally deciding to live permanent in the UK. She became a Christian in 1987 but then faced many challenges. Yemi Dawodu took ill in 1988 and was kicked out of her rented accommodation by her landlady few weeks after been admitted into the hospital, because doctors were finding it hard to diagnose exactly what was wrong. Whilst she was in the hospital, she kept a diary in which God gave her inspired songs. In those days, she would get a pen and her diary and locked herself up in the bath/toilet singing and writing songs whenever she could. Yemi was in and out of several hospitals, when she got admission to do her first degree in 1990. She was miraculously healed in 1992 and then graduated in 1993. She went on to acquire a Masters degree in 1995. In October 2007, Yemi Dawodu received a prophecy by her local Pastor to go ahead and release an album, because the Lord has prepared the way. She contacted the general overseer of her church (Prophet Tim Omotoso of Jesus Dominion International) who encouraged and prayed with her. Six of the songs were taken from the diary whilst the remaining two were written on a local bus trip.She started going to the studio in November 2007 and by the grace of God released and launched the album on the 7th of June 2008.

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