In this week’s installment from Off the Record with Martin Luther, Luther expresses why we so desperately need mercy:

1700. What should God do with us? We cannot bear good days, nor endure bad ones! When he gives us riches, we are proud, when he gives us poverty, we despair. Would it not be better to lead us to the dance with the shovels right away [that is, dead and buried]? We are a sorry lot. We had better believe that our God will be merciful; otherwise it’s all over for us (p. 107)