This morning I have been spending some time reflecting on God's revelation of who He is, through the Patriarchs and Old Testament, and how that revelation was most perfectly provided by Jesus. This morning I saw something in rereading Psalm 103, which has been the basis of my reflection over the last few days.
Psalm 103:7-13 NIV:
[7] "He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
[8] The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
[9] He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
[10] he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
[11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
[12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
[13] As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;"
What I realized this morning was that David was initially paraphrasing from Moses' writings, as recorded in the Book of Exodus, regarding God's nature, when He is writing verses 7-9. Here are the original verses from Exodus 34:6-7 NIV:
[6] "And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming,
“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
[7] maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished;
he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
What I found interesting this morning is that after paraphrasing Moses' writing, and themes, David then goes on to expound on God's mercy, love and forgiveness. We don't know when David wrote this Psalm, but I believe it is safe to say that by the time He wrote it, he had experienced God's forgiveness, mercy, compassion and love intimately. David goes on from that point and reflects on God's goodness, and on His awareness of our human frailty
and insignificance, compared to Himself. In spite of all this, God's still desires relationship and love! Here is the remainder of Psalm 103:14-22 NIV:
[14] "for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
[15] The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
[16] the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
[17] But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children---
[18] with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
[19] The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
[20] Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
[21] Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
[22] Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the Lord, my soul."
So after reading the rest of the Psalm, it appears to me that David's inclusion of the thoughts about God's anger, do not appear to have originated with David, but from the original text from Exodus. David uses this term to summarize God's description of Himself, as punishing (according to translation). However, David's reflection and experience had shown Him a God who seems to prefer forgiveness, mercy and compassion over anger, judgment or punishment, in fact, according to David, God doesn't punish us as our sins deserve (Ps 103:10).
It is interesting, once again going back to the original text from Exodus 34:7, the word used for punish is the word Hebrew word Paqad, which has a primary definition - to attend to, muster, number, reckon, visit, punish, appoint, look after, care for - and then adds that this is for three or four generations. As I described earlier (a few days back), David's choice of the Hebrew word that is translated anger here is the word 'natar" and its primary definition is "To care for or tend" according to the Zondervan Exhaustive Concordance. His word here translated accuse, is the word 'riyb' which can be translated- strive, wrestle or contend - and in the sense that this is over a long period. In other words David, used words that could have been translated "cared for or tended for a long time", and the verses from Exodus could have been translated "attended to or cared for over three or four generations".
Again, I am no ancient language expert, and am only using the tools I have available to try and understand the original meaning of texts that have been translated. I think that at times it is helpful to look deeper as some words have very clear cut definitions in our modern English language and yet when we look to the original Hebrew and Greek we see there are alternative understandings, or more well-rounded understandings that can be gathered. In this case, David describes a God who is loving and compassionate, who doesn't punish as one would think, but who responds with ever-lasting love. He had experienced God's judgment, (described in 2 Samuel 12) but instead of focusing on God's response to His sin with Bathsheba, saw God's mercy, compassion, love and forgiveness! He seemed to be overwhelmed by this reflection on the goodness of God and ended up in a praise session! It might be right to note that David's heir (Solomon) was born by Bathsheba (2 Sam 2:24) and was effectively God's restoration of blessing and care to David and Bathsheba, and was a demonstration of God tending over and caring for the children of the guilty (David).
It is also important to note that this is all Old Testament, and that in our present dispensation, Jesus has taken all punishment for all sins, and has paid for my life with His own. We are no longer under the curse of the Law, but are under the Gospel of Grace through faith. In all of the Old Testament, God was pointing to His son Jesus who would come and fulfill all the requirements and establish righteousness for all through faith in Him.
I was just thinking that any time we read about God's anger or punishment in the Old Testament, we can stamp over it "Cancelled - Jesus Paid for This!" That would actually give us a fairly accurate understanding of God's amazing grace, mercy, compassion and forgiveness! Wow!
This morning I am just continually amazed at the goodness of God, His amazing Love, His forgiveness, His mercy and compassion! He knows me, knows my weakness, my sin and my insignificance in comparison to Him, and yet He wants relationship with me, wants to express His love to me! I am so blessed and so grateful for all He has done and is doing in my life!
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