Hodge:

There are two ways of conceiving of God, the philosophical and the religious, as he stands related to the reason and as he stands related to the heart. According to the one method we regard God as the first ground and cause of all things, as infinite, immutable, eternal, incapable of any relation to space or duration, without succession and without passion or change.

According to the other, we regard him as a person to whom we bear the relation of creatures and children, of responsibility and dependence, to whom we must look for all good, and with whom we can have intercourse, who has towards us the feelings of a father and to whom we can make known our joys and sorrows.

Both these are right, so far as limited and determined by the Scriptures. The one limits the other. If we press the philosophical method so far as to lose the object of the religious affections, we end in Atheism. If we let our affections have full scope we lose the infinite and absolutely perfect, as did the mystic enthusiasts. In the Bible both elements are harmonized; though the latter is the predominant, as it should be with us.

In the interpretation of all such passages as this in which human affections are attributed to God, two things are to be avoided. 1. That we do not ascribe to him anything inconsistent with his nature as the eternal and immutable Jehovah, any perturbation or excitement. 2. That we do not merge everything into figure, as though nothing real was intended; as though the God we worship was a God without consciousness, without knowledge, without regard for his creatures. There is in him something which really answers to the words we use, and which is the proper object of the affections which we exercise.

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Davenant:

Whether absolute Reprobation oppose God’s Mercy.

What the Author discourses in general concerning God’s Mercy considered absolutely, comparatively, and in its naturalness, in the amplitude of its object, &c., is to no great purpose, unless upon such antecedents this conclusion will certainly follow, “Therefore Predestination and Reprobation cannot be absolute acts of God’s freewill, but must needs proceed according to his prevision of men’s future acts and deservings. The weakness of these consequents shall in particular be showed hereafter, when I have first set down some general considerations concerning the Mercy or Justice or other virtues in Scripture ascribed unto God.

And first we must know, “That though the names of habitual virtues be attributed unto God, yet it is impossible hat any such habits should truly and really belong unto the Divine will; Quontam habitus non dantur, nisi tanquam supplementa poteniarum earum que intra ordinem potentia non sunt perfectae. Unless therefore we hold God’s power of willing in itself to be imperfect and to want supervenient rectifying habits, we must not avouce with this Author that Justice, Mercy, Holiness, &c., are in God’s will the same in nature which these virtues are in men, and only differing in degree.

Secondly, though in God there be permanent inclination or natural disposition to produce those outward effects which in us proceed from the habitual virtues, as To endow his creatures with many good things, which we term Bounty or Liberality; To help them out of their miseries, which we term Mercy; To punish them according to their misdeserts, which we call Justice, and the like: yet God should not have been covetous or niggardly, had he never diffused drop of his bounty to any creature, but kept and enjoyed his goodness within himself, as he did before the creation: He should not have been cruel or unjust, had he freed no man out of that misery whereunto all mankind was fallen: neither should he have wanted any virtue, or done contrary to his justice, had he freed all men out of their misery, and brought them to eternal felicity. The outward temporal acts therefore of Divine Justice or Mercy may be terminated or not terminated upon any man according to the absolute freewill of the most wise God, and that without opposing any attribute of his. To this purpose Carthusianus, Cum Deus sit bonorum omnium dominator, & in ipsum peccat qui peccat, ipse postest plus conferre de bonis quam sit alicui debitum, & minus inferre de malis, seu totam poenum relaxare, nec in hoc contra sed praeter institutum facere. Vide Halens. part. 1.q.39 art. 4. & 5.

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Ursinus:

General Mercy:

1) 3. There are some traces and remains of moral virtues, and some ability of regulating the external deportment of the life. 4. The enjoyment of many temporal blessings. 5. A certain dominion over other creatures. Man did not wholly lose his dominion over the various creatures which were put in subjection to him; for many of them still remain subject to him, so that he has the power of governing and using them for his own benefit. These vestiges and remains of the image of God in man, although they are greatly obscured and marred by sin, are, nevertheless, still preserved in us to a certain extent; and that for these ends: 1. That they may be a testimony of the mercy and goodness of God towards us, unworthy as we are. 2. That God may make use of them in restoring his image in us. 3. That the wicked may be without excuse. Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, 32.

2) Merciful. God’s mercy appears in this: 1. That he wills the salvation of all men. 2. That he defers punishment, and invites all to repentance. 3. That he accommodates himself to our infirmity. 4. That he redeems those who are called into his service. 5. That he gave and delivered up to death his only begotten Son. 6. That he promises and does all these things most freely out of his mercy. 7. That he confers benefits upon his enemies, and such as are unworthy of his regard. Obj. 1. But God seems to take pleasure in avenging himself upon the ungodly. Ans. Only in as far as it is the execution of his justice. Obj. 2. He refuses mercy to the ungodly. Ans. Only to such as do not repent. Obj. 3. He does not save all when he has the power. Ans. God acts thus that he may exhibit his justice with his mercy. Obj. 4. He does not exercise his mercy without a sufficient satisfaction. Ans. Yet he has most freely given his Son, that he might make satisfaction by his death. Z. Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, 127.

The Gospel announces the mercy of God:

1) The gospel is, therefore, the doctrine which the Son of God, our Mediator, revealed from heaven in Paradise, immediately after the fall, and which he brought from the bosom of the Eternal Father; which promises, and announces, in view of the free grace and mercy of God, to all those that repent and believe, deliverance from sin, death, condemnation, and the wrath of God; which is the same thing as to say that it promises and proclaims the remission of sin, salvation, and eternal life, by and for the sake of the Son of God, the Mediator; and is that through which the Holy Spirit works effectually in the hearts of the faithful, kindling and exciting in them, faith, repentance, and the beginning of eternal life. Or, we may, in accordance with the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth questions of the Catechism, define the gospel to be the doctrine which God revealed first in Paradise, and afterwards published by the Patriarchs and Prophets, which he was pleased to represent by the shadows of sacrifices, and the other ceremonies of the law, and which he has accomplished by his only begotten Son; teaching that the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption ; which is to say that he is a perfect Mediator, satisfying for the sins of the human race, restoring righteousness and eternal life to all those who by a true faith are ingrafted into him, and embrace his benefits. Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, 101-102.

Ames:

21. The mercy shining forth here is his punishment of sin in less degree than the guilty person deserves.

22. This mercy is either clemency or beneficence.

23. Clemency is his moderation of the punishment due. Lam. 3:22, It is the Lord’s great kindness that we are not consumed.

24. Clemency appears in patience and long-suffering.

25. Patience is his forbearing endurance of sin and sparing of sinners, 2 Peter 3:9.

26. Long-suffering is long suspension of vengeance, Exod. 34:6.

27. Beneficence lies in his being so rich in goodness that he pours forth many good things even on sinners, Matt. 5:45.

William Ames, The Marrow of Theology, (Durham, North Carolina: Labyrinth Press, 1983), 118. [First published in 1623.]