“And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish:
for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.”
(Jonah 4:2)
Jonah’s complaint contains a remarkable confession of the character of God. He knew the Lord to be gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. The very qualities that should have moved him to worship became the reason for his disobedience when mercy was shown to Nineveh. Yet the truth he acknowledged remains glorious: God exercises great longsuffering toward sinners, sometimes withholding or reversing threatened judgments when He is pleased to do so.
Nineveh is a clear example of such mercy. Judgment had been denounced against the city, yet God did not execute the threatened evil because the people humbled themselves. Scripture therefore speaks of Him as “repenting” of the evil, not because His nature or eternal purpose changed, but because His dealings toward men change according to His wise and righteous government.
The same pattern appeared in Israel when Moses interceded for the people. The Lord had reason to judge them, yet He spared them. Such instances magnify the patience of God because they show that He is not hasty to destroy. He may bear long and give space for repentance where immediate judgment would be perfectly just.
Yet this longsuffering must never be turned into presumption.[1] God’s dealing with one sinner does not establish what He must do with another. Some are spared for a season; others meet with swift judgment. One barren fig tree may be given further time, while another is immediately cursed and withers. Israel was spared at one point and afterward fell under solemn judgment. Aaron was preserved, while Korah and his company experienced sudden destruction.
This difference teaches that divine patience is free mercy, not an entitlement. The fact that God has delayed judgment does not mean He is bound to continue delaying it.
We must remember that very delay of deserved judgment is mercy. Every season of patience, every withheld stroke, every opportunity for repentance, and every occasion in which God turns from threatened judgment displays His gracious character. So let us worship and adore the God who is gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.
Contemplations:
- Your Patience Is Mercy, Not Something I Am Owed. Every delay of judgment is undeserved kindness, so keep me from treating Your patience as though it were automatic or guaranteed. Let every spared day, every renewed opportunity, and every withheld chastisement become a reason for gratitude and repentance.
- You Are Free in the Exercise of Mercy. You spared Nineveh, and at other times You judged swiftly. I thank You that mercy belongs to You and is dispensed according to Your wisdom. Keep me from comparing Your dealings with others as though justice required identical treatment in every case. Teach me to adore Your freedom while receiving Your kindness with humility.
- Your Longsuffering Does Not Make Sin Small. I bless You that patience and holiness are perfectly united in You. Your forbearance gives room for repentance, but it never makes rebellion safe. Keep me from abusing Your kindness, and let Your patience make me more serious about holiness, not less.
- You Have Given More Time Than I Deserve. How many times could judgment have fallen sooner than it did? Yet You have borne patiently. I thank You for seasons in which You restrained deserved consequences and granted further opportunity to turn, obey, and seek You. Let remembrance of such mercy make me quicker to repent and slower to presume.
Prayer (Thanksgiving):
Gracious and merciful God, I thank You that You are slow to anger and of great kindness.
You would be just to judge sin swiftly, yet again and again You show patience. You grant time, delay deserved judgment, and provide space for repentance. I bless You that Your longsuffering is mercy freely exercised according to Your wisdom.
Thank You for the examples in Scripture where threatened judgment was withheld. Nineveh deserved destruction, yet You showed compassion. Israel provoked You, yet for so long You spared them. Such dealings display the abundance of Your mercy.
Let every day of Your patience become an occasion for gratitude. Every withheld judgment, every renewed opportunity, and every call to repentance is mercy I did not earn.
Forgive my tendency to interpret longsuffering as indifference. You remain holy while You are patient. You remain just while You are merciful.
Make me thankful enough for Your patience that I do not waste it. Let gratitude produce repentance, reverence, obedience, and a deeper fear of offending the God who has borne so patiently.
I bless You that You are gracious, merciful, slow to anger, and plenteous in kindness.
In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Further Scripture References:
Joel 2:13; Exod. 34:6; Psalm 86:5; Neh. 9:17
[1] John Brinsley, Two Treatises Both Lately Delivered to the Church of God at Great Yarmouth, and Now Published as Useful and Seasonable, (London: J.L. for Tho. Newberry .., 1656), 128-130.
