Hillsong United - Have Mercy On Me Now

Chorus / Description : God have mercy on me
God have mercy on me right now
‘Cause I just need a place
To lay my weary head
And I just need a place
To raise my empty hands
So have mercy on me now

Have Mercy On Me Now Lyrics

VERSE 1:
My heart was heavy with desperation 
Just too ashamed to lift my head
Till all my chains were finally broken 
As I prayed this sinner?s prayer

CHORUS 1:
God have mercy on me
God have mercy on me right now
?Cause I just need a place 
To lay my weary head
So God have mercy on me 
Have mercy on me now
Have mercy on me now

VERSE 2:
You weren?t looking for a holy roller
With a point of pride to prove
But oh how irresistible to grace is failure
To hear a sinner singing God I need You

CHORUS 2:
God have mercy on me 
God have mercy on me right now
?Cause I just need a place 
To lay my weary head
And I just need a place 
To raise my empty hands
So have mercy on me now 

BRIDGE:
When I was desperate for redemption 
A drowning man all out of breath 
You threw me more than just a lifeline
You took the wind right out of death 
Like a dead man resurrected
Your Spirit burning in my bones
Until I breathe the air of heaven 
There?s a song I won?t let go 

CHORUS 3:
God have mercy on me 
God have mercy on me right now
?Cause I just need a place 
To lay my weary head

Have Mercy On Me Now Video

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Have Mercy On Me Now (Song Story) - Hillsong UNITED

The story behind the song "Have Mercy On Me Now" with Chris Davenport.

[Music] 

The idea for the song has been around for several years, to be honest. I actually remember showing what ended up becoming the verse of the song to Joel when we were in Nashville having meetings about the people albums. So we were doing some interviews just like this for another song that he and I had written together, and during one of the breaks I was like, hey, I have this idea that I want to show you. A lot of the song is built around this story in Luke 18 about a tax collector who's in the temple and he can't even look up to heaven because he's just so filled with condemnation and shame. He just beats his hand on his chest and he just cries out for God to have mercy on him.

[Music] Lord, please have mercy on me right now.

Jesus tells this story about how there's a Pharisee in the temple who's thanking God that he's not like all these other people. He's not like these tax collectors; he tithes and he fasts and he does all these things, and Jesus kind of juxtaposes these two people.

It actually teaches that the tax collector is the one who is right before God, and that story always resounded with me because I could identify with him and that feeling.

[Music] 

I think in the bridge there's a lyric that says "you threw me more than just a lifeline, you took the wind right out of death." I absolutely love that lyric. God doesn't just get us across the finish line. He doesn't just do just enough, he does more than enough. He's not someone who rescues us and then leaves us on our own. He does it on purpose, but he does it with the plan in mind. I think I really like that line because it's even in my own life for my own soul, and it's been really amazing for as long as I can remember, and it's been really easy for me to make my prayers.

It is really complicated and elaborate, and I try to tick lots of boxes. 

I think that that chorus kind of came to me in a time of real kind of chaos and, to be frank, in the midst of really real mental health struggles, and I think I just remember that being a prayer because I was just thinking I really don't know what else to say or what else to pray. I didn't know where to go from here, so I was like

God, I just need you to have mercy on me. My hope would be that you know, people who find themselves in similar situations, kind of times of desperation, don't need anything fancy, they just need something real. And that's kind of what my hope is for a song like this, is that, uh, it's not a song that they find to be impressive, but just something that is tangible and a handle that they can grab.

The song itself speaks of an ironclad conviction to just stay the course. I think that's a real struggle that a lot of people have and I think that that is kind of the spirit with which have mercy on me now kind of was written: God I just don't know what to do and I don't know what's next. I just need you to have mercy because that's what I'm gon na die.

Stay the course, but I need you to do that and I think that, um, staying the course is a decision that you make when you're not there yet and so so yeah so. I'm hopeful that people see it fit into that theme and I'm hopeful that everyone who hears the album feels at home while they're listening to it. It's just being a part of a big group of people who are all asking that same question: Are we there yet? We're all asking it for different reasons and we're all looking for different answers, but we're all in it together and I think it's exciting.

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