Question

Hello Rabbi,
 
I wanted to ask you about the nature of the Holy One's commandments.
 
In the Talmud, tractate Berakhot 33b, it says:
 
Mishnah: One who says, "May Your mercy reach the bird's nest," or, "May Your name be mentioned for the good," or repeats "We give thanks, we give thanks"—he is silenced.
 
Gemara: Granted, if one says "We give thanks, we give thanks," he is silenced—because it appears as though there are two authorities. And "May Your name be mentioned for the good" likewise implies: for the good and not for the bad, but we learned: A person is obligated to bless God for the bad just as he blesses Him for the good. But regarding "May Your mercy reach the bird's nest," what is the reason? Two Amoraim in the West disagreed about this—Rabbi Yosei bar Avin and Rabbi Yosei bar Zevida. One said: because he creates jealousy among the works of creation, and one said: because he makes the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He, into mercy, whereas they are nothing but decrees.
 
But on the other hand, Maimonides writes in the laws of the Sabbath:
 
When these things are done (desecrating the Sabbath for the sake of saving a life, or even a possible danger to life), they are not done through non-Jews, nor through minors, nor through slaves, nor through women—so that the Sabbath should not be regarded lightly in their eyes; rather, through the leading sages of Israel. And women are not instructed to do these things. It is forbidden to delay desecrating the Sabbath for a dangerously ill person, as it is said, "which a person shall do and live by them" (Leviticus 18:5), and not die by them. So you learn that the laws of the Torah are not vengeance in the world, but rather mercy, kindness, and peace in the world. And regarding those sectarians who say that this is desecration and forbidden, Scripture says of them: "I too gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances by which they should not live" (Ezekiel 20:25).
 
How can this contradiction be reconciled? And beyond that, what is the real answer regarding the commandments (or at least some of them)? Are they decrees? Or are they mercy, kindness, and peace in the world?