“The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Psalm 145:8 ESV
These past 48 or so hours, a song, using this verse (but the NIV version that says “gracious and compassionate”) has been playing on repeat in my head. You see, I’ve been the one beating myself up over choices I’ve made, tempers I’ve lost, whatever, but as God is wont to do, He gave me a piece of His word to remind me of something that I am still learning.
I’m learning to place my identity in who He says He is and who I am (He never changes! Hallelujah!), but some days, I feel like a complete and utter failure. Some days, I feel more angered by the things in the world instead of in awe of Him and seeking justice through Him. Some days, I am a complete and utter choose-your-own-expletive-here. I’m a lost cause. And I realize I can do nothing without Him.
But back to this verse. Gracious. Merciful. Slow to anger. Abounding in steadfast love. These things are a part of His character. They don’t change. As we continue to grow in our relationship with Him, we take on some of these characteristics, albeit, imperfectly. That doesn’t mean that we are without hope though. The entire Bible, Old Testament and New Testament contain a beautifully woven tapestry of hope, redemption, justice, salvation, grace, mercy (i could keep going), and God’s immutability. He does not change.
Anyway, yesterday, it all seemed to hit the fan and I was having a rough day that just seemed to keep getting worse. I’m sure if it’d been under a different set of circumstances, I’d be laughing at the day as a comedy of errors, but to me, yesterday wasn’t funny. It was hard. It was painful, and my ever tender heart could not take anymore. So I sat and cried. Then God reminded me of this Psalm. The whole thing is beautiful and speaks to praising Him, but the thing that really stuck out to me was this verse. In this verse, it’s not me who receives the love. It’s not me who acts with justice, grace, mercy, what have you. It’s Him who is steadfast in His loyalty to us. It is Him who is merciful, slow to anger, whatever. Even when I mess up, He is not angry with me. In fact, even when He does get angry with someone in the Bible, many times that person (or those people) already had multiple chances.
The Lord is full of grace, compassion, and mercy. He is slow to anger. He is steadfast in His love. He. never. changes.
Go with Him, -Karen
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