Psalm 103:6-10
6 The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
When we read Psalms like this, we can take comfort in all the goodness that God has poured out upon us. When we feel lost or oppressed by outside forces we can curl into God as the one who will always be there for us. We are reminded of the mercy we have received. Mercy is forgiveness and understanding that we did not earn and usually don’t deserve. When we act without thinking we can trust that the grace of God will see through it to find our hearts and draw us back into right relationship.
We know what we deserve. We know when we have done something wrong—even if it felt right at the time. However, no matter how far we stray, God’s unwavering, unfaltering, inescapable love comes to rescue us from ourselves because he is slow to anger. God is slow to anger even when we know our punishment would be justifiable.
We often live in a cycle. We sin and then we repent. We sin and then we repent. We sin and then we repent. But no matter how deep, our sin we have a God who loves us and will not hold that anger against us. God sees you as the person you could become and not as an amalgamation of all the bad things you’ve done.
We do not live in fear of divine retribution because Christ’s sacrifice on the cross stood in our place. He took the sins of the world so that we could be free.
Live like someone who has been set free.