One of the distinguishing factors between the godly and the ungodly is mercy. Those who are aware of the mercy, in which they have received, practice mercy toward those around them. My favorite definition for mercy is “to be unnecessarily kind”. In the text, mercy flows all the way down to the way a person treats his animals. In the culture in which Solomon was writing, animals were not viewed as relational companions as much as they are in the current culture in which we live. While some Gentiles might have worshiped particular animals, the Jews used animals for work and food. If a godly man is merciful to his beast, how do you think he treats other people? One of the biggest struggles we have in life is being kind and accepting toward those who do not think and behave the way we think they should. We like people who are like us, and usually have little regard toward those who are not. When this is the case, it is because we are forgetting the many mercies we have received from a God who is infinitely separate from us. May God’s unnecessary kindness toward us, influence us to be merciful to those around us; who have been made in the image of our merciful God.