Have you ever thought about how much God loves and cares for you? A minute of reflection astounds the human mind. Just the fact that God cares for me is hard to fathom. But He does.
Psalm 86, especially verse fifteen, highlights God’s caring spirit, emphasizing His mercy, graciousness, slowness to anger, kindness, and truth toward every believer. Below are some thoughts to ponder.
God is merciful toward each member of His family, meaning He does not give us what we deserve. He provides for us even when we do not acknowledge Him. Would you do that for someone who ignores you? We may for a while, but somewhere along the way, we would get tired of the neglect. But God doesn’t. He loves us, which leads me to the graciousness of our God.
Our Lord is gracious to us even though we are stingy with what He provides. There is something in our flesh that says, “It’s mine,” and “I want to keep it that way.” God doesn’t think like that. He shares with all His family whether we deserve it or not.
Why is our Lord so slow to anger? I can’t answer the question. I just know that He is. He’s very patient with me. How about you? Do you sense that attribute of God with you? If you would think about it for a moment, you would agree that our God is slow to anger.
Why, you may ask yourself, is God like that? The psalmist said, “He is abundant in loving kindness” (NASB). How abundant is abundant? I don’t know, but I have experienced it, and many times I have ignored His kindness. We are all guilty of that, but God keeps on with His kindness.
The last word is “truth.” God is always truthful. He can’t lie (Titus 1:2). I can’t conceive that attitude in our God. Every one of us has spoken lies. We started long ago in our childhood. Even today, we are hesitant about telling the truth in certain circumstances. But God always is truthful. Even Jesus acknowledged that (John 14:6).
All I can say is, we serve a great God. May we be more mindful of His presence in our lives.