Baby loss awareness week: Finding comfort at the mercy seat

This week is baby loss awareness week. It is a time when we remember all the precious lives that are no longer with us and encourage men and women to talk about their experiences. It is a time to remember, grieve and seek comfort. While this has not been my own personal experience, having journeyed through infertility for over 10 years and through my ministry working with women walking through infertility and baby loss, I have supported lots of people through the grief and pain that is experienced. This year I have had the immense privilege of being asked to speak at the town’s annual baby loss service and to help put together an evening that will help people to remember their loved ones and grieve their loss. 

As I sat thinking about and preparing for the service, I was considering the comfort that God brings to us in our grief. One of the pictures painted in the bible about God’s comfort is the idea of us sheltering under his wings. This is something that I often come back to when thinking about loss grief and God’s comfort (you can read about it here: ) Psalm 91:4  says: 

"He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."

In the passion translation of the bible, there is a note on this verse that stopped me in my tracks. It said:

“Under his wings which speaks not of God having wings but of the wings of the cherubim resting on the mercy seat. The implication is that we can always come to the mercy seat and rest without fear”

In the bible, the mercy seat was something of great importance. God commanded the Hebrew people to create a box called the ark of the covenant to contain important artefacts of the people. It contained:

• The stones with the 10 commandments on - a sign of God’s promise

• A jar of manna given to the people in the desert - a sign of God’s provision

• Aaron's ‘budding’ staff - a sign of God’s protection

The mercy seat was the golden roof placed upon the ark, Exodus 25:22 says:

 “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.”

This tells us that the mercy seat is a place where God will meet with us and will speak giving words of wisdom and advice.  Leviticus 16 also tells us that the mercy seat is also important when it comes to the sacrifices made for the atonement of sin. Blood sprinkled on the mercy seat is a sign of God coming close and meeting with his loved ones. 

The bible tells us that in Jesus’ death and resurrection, he became both our sacrifice and high priest. Hebrews 10:12

“But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

However, the mercy seat still holds important symbolism. 

In the Salvation Army, this idea of the mercy seat was adopted and most Salvation Army churches have a ‘mercy seat’ in their hall. This is quite simply a bench at the front, where people can come to pray. To look at it is nothing special, however, in our worship, it holds a special significance. 

The mercy seat is a focal point of worship. Traditionally it was a place where we can come to find salvation and give our heart to him. However, as we have already seen, there is far more to it! It is a place where we can come and meet with God, to feel him close and to receive his comfort. The mercy seat is also a place where we not only give our heart to God, but share with him what is on our heart. 

William Cowper summed this up before the days of The Salvation army in 1797, when in a hymn he wrote: 

Jesus, where’er Thy people meet,

  There they behold Thy mercy-seat;

Where’er they seek Thee, Thou art found,

  With grace and mercy to abound.

Like the mercy seat in the bible, The mercy seat we use in our church is a place of God’s promise, a place of God’s provision and a place of God’s protection. 

A few weeks ago, while at William Booth college, the place where people from The Salvation Army go to in order to train to become ministers, we attended a service led by the principal of the college. After the sermon, people were invited to come to the mercy seat and pray. There was a beautiful moment when my seven year old nephew, feeling called by the Holy Spirit, almost ran with eagerness and knelt at the mercy seat. It was a beautiful and emotive picture. 

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we now have the holy Spirit dwelling within us, and the bible tells us that we are the temple. This means that while the mercy seat is a beautiful picture of God’s love and comfort, we can feel that too in our hearts, wherever we are and whatever situation we find ourselves in. 

This baby loss awareness week, while we take the time to remember and grieve, I pray that you might experience the comfort of coming to the mercy seat and finding shelter and refuge under his wings. I pray too that you might rest in his presence free from fear.