Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked… Works of art require some education in the beholder before they can be thoroughly appreciated. There must be something in the man himself before he can understand the wonders either of nature or of art. Certainly this is true of character. By reason of failures in our character, and faults in our life, we are not capable of understanding all the separate beauties and the united perfection of the character of Christ, or of God His Father. Men, through the alienation of their natures, are constantly misrepresenting God, because they cannot appreciate His perfection. This is especially true with regard to certain lights and shadows in the character of God, which He has so marvellously blended in the perfection of His nature, that, although we cannot see the exact point of meeting, yet we are struck with wonder at the sacred harmony. How can God be "slow to anger," and yet unwilling to "acquit the wicked? Our character is so imperfect that we cannot see the congruity of these two attributes. It is because His character is perfect that we do not see where these two things melt into each other. I. THE FIRST CHARACTERISTIC OF GOD. "Slow to anger." 1. Because He never smites without first threatening. 2. But He is very slow to threaten. God's lips move swiftly when He promises, but slowly when He threatens. 3. When He threatens, how slow He is to sentence the criminal. 4. Even when the sentence against a sinner is signed and sealed, how slow God is to carry it out. Illustrate from case of Sodom. Trace this attribute of God to its source. He is "slow to anger" because He is infinitely good. And because He is great. II. THE LINK BETWEEN THE FIRST SENTENCE OF THE TEXT AND THE LAST. He is "great in power." He that is great in power has power over Himself. When God's power doth restrain Himself, then it is power indeed. III. THE LAST ATTRIBUTE IS THIS — "HE WILL NOT AT ALL ACQUIT THE WICKED." Never once has God pardoned an unpunished sin. Trace this attribute to its source, and you find it in this, because He is good." ( C. H. Spurgeon.) Parallel Verses KJV: The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. |
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