What Comes to Mind?
Scripture:
“The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.
The Lord is like a father to his children,
tender and compassionate to those who fear him.”
—Psalm 103:8–13 (NLT)
We would do well to hold our thoughts about God up against this passage. A.W. Tozer once wrote that what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.¹ So, what comes to mind? What we believe about God shapes everything. How we live, how we pray, how we treat others, how we see ourselves. Get it wrong about God, and everything downstream shifts with it.
That’s why Psalm 103 is such a gift. Verse 8 alone is a flood of truth: God is compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, filled with unfailing love. And the rest of the passage is no less overwhelming. He doesn’t accuse us relentlessly or stay angry. He doesn’t give us what we deserve. He gives us mercy, forgiveness, and love. Not because we’ve earned it, but because it is simply who He is.
It’s not that God ignores sin. He removes it. Not partially, but entirely. As far as the east is from the west. That’s not a poetic exaggeration; it’s a theological statement about finality. His love is described as higher than the heavens. His heart is that of a perfect Father, tender and compassionate toward those who fear Him. This is not a God who tolerates us at a distance. This is a God who draws near.
And remember, this is the God of the Old Testament. Some people carry an image of a harsh, punishing God in the Old Testament and a gentle, loving Jesus in the New. But this psalm dismantles that. God has always been this. He has always been a compassionate Father. As the apostle John would later write, God is love, not just something He does, but something He is. The character revealed in Psalm 103 and the character revealed in Jesus are the same character.
So what truly comes to mind when you think about God? Not what you know you’re supposed to believe, but what rises up instinctively when God appears silent and life is hard. This psalm was written to correct us, and to free us. The God who knows you completely is the same God who loves you and calls you His own.
Reflection:
- What are your instinctive thoughts when you think about God? Are they shaped more by Scripture or by unhealthy teaching or past experience?
- How does knowing God is tender, merciful, and loving challenge or comfort you today?
- What would it look like to live today as someone fully loved and completely forgiven?
Prayer:
Ask God to renew your mind with truth about who He is. Thank Him for His mercy and compassion. Invite Him to replace false beliefs with a deeper experience of His love.
Footnote:
¹ A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HarperCollins, 1961), Ch. 1, p. 1.