There was a song that we sang when I was younger and the only line that I remember is, “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” I know that it is based on Psalm 45:8 “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” and this is such a wonderful reminder and encouragement to me. It is easy for me to find opportunities to grumble and complain about, sometimes merely out of boredom! This simple, yet incredibly loaded, verse is a reminder of what I would like my heart to be or described as. Would someone say, “Katie is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and rich in love”? I don’t think so! I wear my sinful heart on my sleeve and usually all over my face so it is clear when I am angry, impatient, and selfish.
The Lord is always gracious and merciful. If God can be this way in all situations and His Spirit is in me, I pray that this would be true in my life. When things happen throughout the day wether or not they are “happy” for me, it would be a good reminder to stop and mediate on this verse. That is God’s heart towards them, and because He goes before me, I can choose to follow His example. Knowing that this is God’s outlook also challenges me to look around with that mindset too. Look and find things to be thankful for. Find things that are praise worthy. Find a reason to be thankful. Something like a red light can easily be a blessing, because it could be my only time to sit still all day! A messy bathroom can remind me that my heart is even more disgusting, yet Jesus’ blood washes me clean. There is always a reason to rejoice, we just might need to change our perspective. Psalm 45 ends with, ” My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.” Can I be a motivation to myself and others to be like this? What things are you thankful for? How can tweaking your perspective cause you to praise God more? Feel free to share below!
I found the words to the song that I was talking about, for those that are interested 🙂
The Lord is gracious and compassionate
Slow to anger and rich in love
The Lord is gracious and compassionate
Slow to anger and rich in love
and the Lord is good to all
and He has compassion in all that he has made
As far as the east is from the west
that’s how far, He has removed our transgressions from us.
As far as the east is from the west
that’s how far, He has removed our transgressions from us.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, Praise the Lord
Praise the Lord, O my soul, Praise the Lord.
(last) Praise the Lord.
Katie, I too have struggled with this but the Lord has made me aware of each time I am complaining or not praising Him. As I have matured in my faith (thanks be to Him), I am increasingly aware of my wretchedness and His holiness and when I am not praising Him, it does not bring honor to my omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, all-compassionate, almighty God. Thanks for the verse!