Exodus 34:6-7
Scripture:
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Devotion:
What David sang in Psalm 103, Moses first heard on a mountain. To understand why the psalm carries the weight that it does, you have to know what was happening in Exodus 34 when God spoke these words. Israel had just built the golden calf. The covenant was in ruins. Moses had shattered the tablets, the people had worshipped an idol while God's presence still rested on the mountain above them, and the relationship between God and His people had been fractured at its foundations. Into that moment, God chose to reveal His name.
His proclamation lands with mercy as its first word: merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. The Hebrew word for steadfast love here is hesed, the same word that runs like a thread through Psalm 103. It carries a meaning that English cannot quite hold in a single word, something between covenant loyalty and fierce, unearned affection.
Exodus 34 also holds a word that Psalm 103 does not sidestep: God will by no means clear the guilty. The full weight of who God is includes both His mercy and His justice, and the psalm holds them together honestly. The reason God can remove our transgressions as far as the east is from the west is rooted in something the New Testament will name plainly: He dealt with sin another way entirely, a way that cost Him everything.
HEAR about it:
Explain:
What connection do you see between Exodus 34:6-7 and Psalm 103? What new light does it shed on the main passage? And what does it mean to you that God revealed this name in the aftermath of Israel's worst failure?
Prayer and Reflection:
Take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on the passage you read today. Let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what stood out to you and why. Then spend some time in prayer. Pray for the people around you, for your outlook on this day, and for the needs you are carrying in your own life.
God, thank You that Your first word after Israel's worst failure was revelation, a name built on mercy and hesed and the slow, relentless patience of a God who does not repay us according to what we have earned. Help me to hold both sides of Exodus 34 honestly today, the mercy that is wider than I deserve and the justice that takes sin seriously enough to deal with it rather than ignore it. I need both, and I am grateful that You are both. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Click HERE to continue your time with the Lord today by singing along to today's worship devotional through The Worship Initiative.