Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. (Numbers 14:19)
I have been in authority at times, and occasionally someone will do something for which he needs to punished. In a military culture nobody argues with it. The one to be punished takes his punishment and the rest try to be invisible lest they get dragged in to the situation.
A church situation is very different. Often enough, someone, usually female, will feel it her duty to defend whoever it is that has broken a rule. I have noticed that although I experience this, many other leaders don't. Most leaders have little tolerance for this kind of nonsense and people learn not to get in the way. But this kind of leadership does not belong in the church. It is not the kind of leadership that God displays.
God left himself open to being persuaded, though only by those who were themselves innocent. When somebody tries to stop me from dealing punishment I don't resent it, but it is usually done very ineffectively, and Moses sometimes did it ineffectively as well:
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? (Numbers 16:22)
That was a good try. God did exactly what Moses and Aaron suggested, he did not punish all of Israel for the sin of Korah et al. Instead he killed everyone involved in the rebellion, a lot of people.*
In my experience it is similar. Someone will tell me all the reasons why I am being unreasonable to expect this or that and that I should show mercy. All this accusation against me makes me very disinclined to show mercy and usually strengthens my resolve. But if somebody did what Moses did in Numbers 14:19 that would be a completely different thing.
In Numbers 14:19, Moses did not say that the people did not deserve to be punished. To admit this makes the advocate much more credible. If you try to defend a man who is known to be guilty by telling me he is only a little bit guilty all you will achieve is a loss of credibility. But confessing the guilt, if you proceed to appeal to my goodness or my reputation for goodness to motivate me to show mercy it will be hard to refuse. This principle for making good appeals is found elsewhere in the Bible and is effective in other situations. 1 Samuel 25 for example.
What does this look like today? An example might be if your child is doing poorly in school. If you tell the teacher that actually your kid is super smart and you don't understand why he would be doing poorly, you are implying that the teacher is the problem. You are not going to help your child's situation. If you admit your child has some behaviour problems and that you (yourself) really should have trained him better, then ask the teacher to use his gifts and talents to do whatever can be done, the child will be much better looked after. What teacher doesn't want to prove his abilities by turning around (that's what repent means in a moral context) a student that is failing? You are appealing to his reputation for his help, and not making it hard for him to be nice to you by criticising him, even if he has been negligent.
For me today this principle is most significant in interceding to God for my denomination. It is an incredibly wonderful movement, but like the children of Israel it has a few problems from time to time. Not everyone agrees on what these problems are, one man's problem is another man's reform. But I have my views on the matter and I am concerned for the future of my denomination if certain "reforms" get through. What can I do? I can do nothing but pray and intercede that God would have mercy on us, because without a doubt we have been guilty. If we are punished it will not help those outside, God's end time message will be greatly hindered if the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from those who are meant to preach it.
Maybe there is an individual person or a group you feel you should intercede for, why not do it now?
*It is worthwhile to note that Korah's children were not killed (Psalm 42 etc), so clearly this was not rough justice where children were killed for no good reason. Only those who joined in the rebellion were killed, and presumably this is always the case when God kills people.
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