Psalm 103 "No Chide"

Psalm for Today = 103:8-13
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.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children,
    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

Comments:

Psalm 103 is one of the best known and most frequently quoted. After beginning with an appeal to bless the Lord and remember all that he has done for us it begins to list those benefits that we need to remember.

Verse 8 is often found in the OT and I have commented on it before as the true nature of God as revealed in the Old Testament. But what caught my attention today was v.9 “He will not always chide”. While God certainly has grounds to chide us he will not do so forever. The conviction that comes from God shows us our need for forgiveness and leads us to trust Jesus’ death and resurrection as sufficient to cleanse us from all sin.

So what does it mean to chide? My thesaurus lists several terms as synonyms for “chide” including: scold, reproach, reprimand, rebuke, blame, nag, harass, express disapproval, take to task, and tell off.

Wow! What if we went through our lives thinking this was how God relates to us? Once he has forgiven our sins and removed our transgressions in Christ Jesus, he does not chide but shows compassion to his children, to us!

It is much better to run to him in faith than to run away from him in frustration! So what are you going to do today? Where are you headed?