Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 103:8
The LORD [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
The Lord is merciful and gracious – See the notes at Psa 78:38. The idea here is derived evidently from Exo 34:6-7 – that great and glorious statement of God himself in regard to his own character. Our world is a different world under that statement from what it would be if that and kindred declarations had not been made. There is here a progression of thought; an advance on the previous statements. At first the psalmist referred to his own individual experience Psa 103:3-5; then he referred to the dealings of God toward the Hebrew people Psa 103:6-7; and now he rises to the general contemplation of his character as it relates to all mankind. It was a characteristic of God in respect to all, that he was kind, compassionate, and forbearing.
Slow to anger – That is, patient; not soon excited; bearing much, and bearing it long. See Jam 5:11; compare Exo 34:6-7.
And plenteous in mercy – Margin, great of mercy. The Hebrew word means much, or great; and the idea is, that mercy is not manifested by him in small or stinted measure. It is rich; full; abundant; overflowing; free.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 103:8
The Lord is merciful and gracious.
The mercy of God
I. Define the idea of mercy. It is the exercise of a Divine benevolence in respect to a guilty being, and such an exercise, that if it had been wholly wanting, no just judgment could ever have impeached the benevolence of God. Mercy is the intervention of gratuitous goodness. It is benevolence, bending in pity and compassion over the very creature, whose guiltiness has deserved the everlasting abandonment of Heaven.
II. Guard against an error in relation to it. The error we wish you to avoid consists precisely in the difference there is between the notions of Divine Mercy entertained by an intelligent and humble Christian, and those entertained by unconverted sinners at ease in their sins. When we speak of the pre-eminence of Divine Mercy, we are speaking of that thing which we, as Christians, feel to be of all things most calculated to make us fear and hate sin. We see it does not render the Deity indifferent to His laws; it does not infringe upon His justice, or make Him less terrible, but more terrible, to all who will indulge themselves in sin. But still the Divine Mercy is pre-eminent. By this attribute God peculiarly shows Himself. If you did not pervert the Divine Mercy, you would feel it as an infinite attraction; you would find its solace reaching the deepest woes that ever trouble your agonized spirit.
III. Explain how it comes to pass that the mercy of God, which ought to affect our hearts so much, really does affect them, while unconverted, so little. The believer walks with God and lives in Christ. He sees God in all things, and all things in God. The influence, and a sweet and sensible influence of the perfections of God, all His perfections, comes over the renewed heart. An unregenerated heart fails in this. And it fails in a very remarkable manner to be affected by the Divine mercy. There are several things which conspire together to cause this.
1. The first is found in the nature of mercy itself. Sin in the human heart tends always and uniformly (when the heart is unaffected by the Divine Spirit) to put God out of mind.
2. The second cause is found in the fact that sin, in the human heart, has made its most perfect triumph over those very sensibilities which mercy aims to affect.
3. A third reason is found in the sufferings that fill the world; i.e. the ideas of irreligious people about these miseries give them a wrong idea of the Mercy of God. Let us not be materialists, to weigh nothing but dust and ashes, and the earthly felicity that springs out of them. Let us think as immortals–feel, hope, and fear, as immortals. Let us go out in our contemplations, and plant our feet on the borders of that unbounded field, as wide as eternity, and, by the mercy of God, as blissful as heaven; and then we shall not be tempted to think Gods mercy little and unworthy to be trusted, though He should give us but few joys here. He intends to give us but few. He means to show us that He cares very little about the dying bliss of this dying world. And if we understand His Word rightly, we shall understand that He mentions His earthly mercies to us, not on account of any value He puts upon them, but only as tokens and attractions to that infinite mercy which would save, eternally save, our sinful and immortal souls.
IV. Endeavour to gain some just ideas of the mercy of God.
1. Mercy is that attribute in which the Deity peculiarly delights. God loves to forgive sinners, to adopt them into His family, and to cheer them with His promises.
2. The great purpose of the Divine revelation is to disclose to us the mercy of God, and lead us to accept it. God has trusted His world to demonstrate His other attributes, but not to demonstrate His mercy. His mountains and His seas–His winds, His lightnings, and His thunders–His worlds wheeling in infinite space around His throne–suns, stars, and comets in their order–the existence and nature of this material universe, God has trusted to unfold to us His wisdom, His omnipotence, His justice. But the mercy of God has such a pre-eminence that He Himself must speak it out to us from His hiding-place in eternity!
3. Divine mercy is of such pre-eminence, that its method of operation is entirely singular, and unlike anything else which God Almighty does. It operates by the incarnation, life, and death of the eternal Son of God.
4. The promises of mercy in the Gospel are absolutely unlimited by human guilt. There is no crime so odious, no circumstances of sinning amidst light and warnings, and the strivings of the resisted Spirit, so aggravating as not to be pardonable, when the sinner sincerely turns to Jesus Christ. This is wonderful! Human reason could never have conjectured this. Human sentiments, without grace, never have anything like it.
5. The extent of the sinners guilt makes no difference about the readiness of His forgiveness–that the mercy of God will forgive him if he repents at any stage of his sin on this side of hell, with precisely the same facility and readiness! This is pre-eminence in mercy. It surpasses all the extent of human reason, human expectations, human sentiments and hopes. It not only reaches the greatest offences, but the greatest as readily as the least. (I. S. Spencer, D. D.)
Divine mercy
The term mercy is derived from misericordia; a compound of miserans–pitying, and cor–the heart; or miseria cordis–pain of heart. The mercy of God, then, is the pity, the pain of His heart, inclining Him to pardon the guilty and succour the helpless. Grace is the twin-sister of mercy–gratuitous favour, unmerited bounty, benefit bestowed where there is no claim, blessing communicated without worthiness in the recipient.
I. Its beneficence. It is not an inert compassion, but communicative and bounteous. It flows forth a spontaneous stream from an infinite fountain. The air is not more free, nor the light more diffusive and impartial.
II. Its forbearance. The Lord is slow to anger. His charity suffereth long and is kind; and, though its patience is often abused by impenitence, it is not easily provoked. He delays punishment that He may lead to repentance; men pervert the delay into an occasion and encouragement of crime; and when He can justly delay no longer, He hurls His thunder with an averted face and a backward aim. He always warns before He smites; generally suspends the judgment long after the warning; then executes it gradually and by slow degrees, with frequent intervals of kindest indulgence, and arguments of unwearying love.
III. Its abundance. The Lord is plenteous in mercy. Wonderful words! Mercy–what music in those two syllables! There is no term of richer import in any language. It is sweeter than sympathy, more tender than charity, and lies deeper than the fountain of tears. The inspired writers adopt a variety of expedients to heighten its signification. Sometimes they connect an epithet with it, and we read of His great mercy, tender mercy, loving mercy, abundant mercy, everlasting mercy. Sometimes they couple another term with it, and we have mercy and grace, mercy and truth, mercy and goodness, mercy and judgment, mercy and compassion. Sometimes they employ the plural form mercies–to indicate the frequency, the variety, the endless modifications and adaptations, of this most engaging trait of the Divine character. Then the plural is intensified in the phrase manifold mercies, giving the idea of mercies wrapped up in mercies, a thousand contained in one. At last enumeration is outdone in the multitude of His mercies mercies numberless, thronging upon mercies unnumbered–a host to which the stars of heaven multiplied by all their beams of light could scarcely furnish a competent arithmetic. The apostle calls Jehovah the God and Father of all mercies, because He rejoiceth in His mercies as a father in his children; and tells us that He is rich in mercy to all that call upon Him, because no monarch ever dispensed his bounty so freely; and, though infinite in capacity, full of mercy–full as the ocean is of water, as the atmosphere of light. (J. Cross, D.D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. The Lord is merciful] See Clarke on Ps 86:15.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Slow to anger; not speedily punishing sinners, but patiently waiting for their repentance.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8-10. God’s benevolence impliesno merit. He shows it to sinners, who also are chastened for a time(Ex 34:6).
keep (anger)in Le19:18, bear a grudge (Jer 3:5;Jer 3:12).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The Lord is merciful and gracious,…. So he made himself known to Moses, Ex 34:6, and so David found him to be, and therefore calls upon his soul to bless his name. God is “merciful” in the most tender and affectionate manner; he has bowels of mercy, which yearn towards his people, as those of a tender parent to its child, as the word signifies; his mercy is free, without any motive or merit in men to engage it; he delights in showing it; he constantly bestows it; it is the source of all good things; it is communicated through Christ; all mercies temporal and spiritual come by him; and this lays a foundation for faith and hope: and he is gracious, as appears in the eternal choice of his people to salvation; in providing a Saviour and a ransom for them; in giving all grace and the blessings of it to them in his Son; in giving him for them, and all things to them with him; in justifying them by his righteousness; in pardoning their sins for his sake; in taking them into his family; in regenerating, calling, preserving, and saving them:
slow to anger, or “longsuffering” d; even to wicked men, to the vessels of wrath, to the old world, yea, to Jezebel, to whom he gave space to repent; which longsuffering being abused and despised, is an aggravation of condemnation: but rather here it intends God’s longsuffering to his people, as before conversion, waiting till the time comes that he is gracious to them; and after conversion, notwithstanding their backslidings and revoltings; and this longsuffering is their salvation:
and plenteous in mercy; large and abundant in it, as appears by the various instances of it, and ways and methods in which he shows it; in election, in the covenant, in redemption, in regeneration, in pardon and eternal life; and by the abundance of it which he bestows on every one of his people; and by the vast numbers which do partake of it.
d “longanimis”, V. L. Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Cocceius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8. Jehovah is merciful and gracious David seems to allude to the exclamation of Moses, recorded in Exo 34:6, where the nature of God, revealed in a remarkable way, is more clearly described than in other places. When Moses was admitted to take a nearer view of the Divine glory than was usually obtained, he exclaimed upon beholding it, “O God! merciful and gracious, forgiving iniquity, slow to wrath, and abundant in goodness.” As, therefore, he has summarily comprehended in that passage all that is important for us to know concerning the Divine character, David happily applies these terms, by which God is there described, to his present purpose. His design is to ascribe entirely to the goodness of God the fact that the Israelites, who by their own wickedness forfeited from time to time their relation to him, as his adopted people, nevertheless continued in that relation. Farther, we must understand in general, that the true knowledge of God corresponds to what faith discovers in the written Word; for it is not his will that we should search into his secret essence, except in so far as he makes himself known to us, a point worthy of our special notice. We see that whenever God is mentioned, the minds of men are perversely carried away to cold speculations, and fix their attention on things which can profit them nothing; while, in the meantime, they neglect those manifestations of his perfections which meet our eyes, and which afford a vivid reflection of his character. To whatever subjects men apply their minds, there is none from which they will derive greater advantage than from continual meditation on his wisdom, goodness, righteousness, and mercy; and especially the knowledge of his goodness is fitted both to build up our faith, and to illustrate his praises. Accordingly, Paul, in Eph 3:18, declares that our height, length, breadth, and depth, consists in knowing the unspeakable riches of grace, which have been manifested to us in Christ. This also is the reason why David, copying from Moses, magnifies by a variety of terms the mercy of God. In the first place, as we have no worse fault than that devilish arrogance which robs God of his due praise, and which yet is so deeply rooted in us, that it cannot be easily eradicated; God rises up, and that he may bring to nought the heaven-daring presumption of the flesh, asserts in lofty terms his own mercy, by which alone we stand. Again, when we ought to rely upon the grace of God, our minds tremble or waver, and there is nothing in which we find greater difficulty than to acknowledge that He is merciful to us. David, to meet and overcome this doubting state of mind, after the example of Moses, employs these synonymous terms: first, that God is merciful; secondly, that he is gracious; thirdly, that he patiently and compassionately bears with the sins of men; and, lastly, that he is abundant in mercy and goodness.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Merciful and Gracious.The original confession (Exo. 34:6) had become a formula of the national faith. In addition to the marginal references, see Joe. 2:13, Psa. 145:8.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Merciful and gracious A quotation from Exo 34:6
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 103:8. The Lord is merciful and gracious It is astonishing, after a sentence like this, that any persons should be so blinded by their zeal for infidelity, as to represent the God of the Hebrews as a severe, cruel, pitiless, and vindictive monarch. See Chandler’s Life of David, vol. 1: p. 6.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 673
THE GOODNESS OF GOD
Psa 103:8-13. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, for as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
WE cannot form a juster conception of the Deity than from the history of the Israelites. In the mixture of mercy and judgment which is there recorded, we see every one of his perfections displayed in most lively characters [Note: ver. 7]. His dealings with us indeed are less discernible: but, the more they are scrutinized, the more will they appear to be regulated according to the counsels of unerring wisdom and unbounded goodness. The words before us will naturally lead us to a contemplation of this subject: and we shall have abundant evidence of their truth, while we consider his goodness,
I.
Generally, as it is in himself
The mercy and grace of our God are chiefly discovered by,
1.
His patience in bearing with us
[Had God been such an one as ourselves, he would long since have broke forth in anger against the whole world, and consumed them in his heavy displausure. But, notwithstanding the multitude of their provocations, he has been long-suffering towards them [Note: 2Pe 3:9.], and has waited to be gracious unto them [Note: Isa 30:18]. He has borne with many vessels of wrath, that have been daily fitting themselves for destruction [Note: Rom 9:22.]: and has kept mercy for thousands [Note: Exo 34:6-7.], who have been continually occupied in casting it away. The description which Nehemiah gives of the divine patience as manifested in his day [Note: Neh 9:16-21.], is no less realized towards the whole world at this very hour.]
2.
His mercy in pardoning us
[God, in infinite compassion, laid our iniquities upon his only dear Son [Note: lsai. 53:6.], and exacted of him our debt [Note: Isa 53:7. Lowths Trapslation.], in order that he might exercise mercy towards us consistently with the demands of truth and justice [Note: Rom 3:25-26.]. And, having provided such a remedy, he delights in extending its benefits even to the vilest of the human race [Note: Mic 7:18.]. Thousands that are now glorified in heaven, and thousands too that are yet compassed with infirmities on earth, can attest, that with him is plenteous, redemption [Note: Psa 130:7-8.], and that he is rich in mercy unto all that call upon, him [Note: Rom 10:12-13.].]
Not to dwell on general views of his goodness, let us consider it,
II.
Particularly as it manifests itself towards us
It is here more minutely delineated:
1.
In reference to his patience
[God will chide his people for their sins; nor would he act worthy of himself, if he did not manifest his displeasure against the violations of his holy law [Note: Heb 12:6-7.]. But we must all confess that he punishes neither soonnor longnor according to our deserts. Not soon; for then he would be always chiding, seeing that we give continual occasion for his displeasure to arise. But he is not extreme to mark what is done amiss [Note: Psa 130:3.], well knowing that if he should contend with us for every fault, we could not answer him one of a thousand [Note: Job 9:3.]. Nor will he visit us long; if he hide his face, it is hut for a little moment [Note: Isa 54:7-8.], and if he wound us, it is, for the most part, but a very short time before he binds us up again and heals us [Note: Hos 6:1-2.]. He will not be always wroth, lest our spirits should faint, and fail by reason of his displeasure [Note: Isa 57:16.]. Nor does he at any time deal with us according to our iniquities, Where must every one of us have been if he had entered into judgment with us according to the strict tenour of his law [Note: Compare Gal 3:10. with Psa 143:2.]? Whatever trials we may have been called to endure, they have been infinitely less than our iniquities have deserved [Note: Job 11:6.].]
2.
In reference to his mercy
[This has been boundless in its extent. Who can measure the vast expanse of heaven [Note: Jer 31:37.]? Yet such is the mercy of our God, having heights that cannot be explored, and depths that cannot be fathomed [Note: Eph 3:18-19.]. It reaches, not only to all persons, but to the utmost extent of their necessities or desires. It is also tender in its exercise. Can any thing on earth afford us a stronger image of tenderness, than a parent striving to soothe the anguish of his agonizing infant? Yet such is the anxiety which God himself feels to heal our wounded spirits, and comfort us under all our conflicts [Note: Hos 11:8. Jer 31:20.]. It is, moreover, lasting in its effects. Let a straight line be drawn from east to west; and the further it is drawn, the further shall the ends be removed from each other. Thus it is with respect to our sins which he has pardoned: they are put away from us to the remotest distance, never to meet upon our souls again, never to be remembered against us to all eternity [Note: ver. 17. Mic 7:19.].]
Infer
1.
How base is it to sin against such a God!
[Sin, of whatever kind, is really directed against him [Note: Psa 51:4.]. And shall it appear a light matter to us to offend such a God? See this argument urged by Ezra [Note: Ezr 9:13-14, Heb 8:12.]; and let every temptation be repelled with this indignant expression, How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against God [Note: Gen 39:9.]?]
2.
How ought we to fear and love our God!
[It is twice observed in the text, that Gods mercy is displayed to them that fear him: and it is manifested on purpose that he may be feared [Note: Psa 130:4.]. Let us therefore not despise the riches of his goodness [Note: Rom 2:4.], but improve them for the confirming of our fear [Note: Hos 3:5.], and the quickening of our love [Note: Psa 116:12; Psa 145:8-9; Psa 145:21.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 103:8 The LORD [is] merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Ver. 8. The Lord is merciful and gracious ] These are Moses’s very expressions, Exo 34:6 . Theodoret calleth him, worthily, the great ocean of divinity, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
merciful = compassionate, or pitiful. Compare Psa 103:13.
Slow to anger = long-suffering.
mercy = lovingkindness, or grace. Compare Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
merciful: Psa 86:5, Psa 86:15, Psa 130:7, Psa 145:8, Exo 34:6, Exo 34:7, Num 14:18, Deu 5:10, Neh 9:17, Isa 55:7, Jer 32:18, Rom 5:20, Rom 5:21, Eph 1:7, Eph 1:8
slow: Joe 2:13, Jon 4:2, Nah 1:3
plenteous in mercy: Heb. great of mercy
Reciprocal: Gen 19:16 – the Lord 2Sa 24:14 – for his 1Ch 21:13 – great Neh 9:31 – gracious Psa 26:11 – and Psa 62:12 – mercy Psa 86:13 – great Psa 111:4 – gracious Psa 116:5 – Gracious Pro 16:32 – that is Isa 48:9 – defer Jer 3:5 – he reserve Jer 3:12 – for I am Lam 3:31 – General Mal 3:17 – and I Mat 28:10 – go Eph 2:4 – who Jam 5:11 – the Lord is
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 103:8-10. The Lord is merciful and gracious See on Exo 34:6. Slow to anger Not speedily punishing sinners, but patiently waiting for their repentance. He will not always chide Or contend by his judgments with sinners, but is ready to be reconciled to them, namely, upon their repentance, as is manifest from innumerable texts, and from the whole scope and design of the Scriptures. Neither will he keep his anger for ever The word anger, though not in the original, is necessarily understood here, as it is also Jer 3:5, and in many other places. He hath not dealt with us after our sins He hath punished us less than our iniquities have deserved.