"It is of The LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." [Lam 3:22-23]
When it comes to The LORD’s characteristics and the qualities of true love, longsuffering is one that rises to the top and is most prominent. The first quality of the true love of God is longsuffering, as Paul writes, “love is longsuffering…” [1 Cor 13:4] Longsuffering means, “bearing injuries of [that which excites anger] for a long time; patient; not easily provoked.” [Webster] When we are told that “The LORD is longsuffering” [Num 14:18] it means that The LORD is able to bear wrongs done against Himself for a very long time without becoming angry. In the face of that which would otherwise incite a man to anger, The LORD is able to bear such things for a very long time without becoming angry or wrathful. He is exceedingly patient. For us, this is an excellent virtue. As our verse today shows, “it is of The LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed.” Because our Father is so patient, so inclined to mercy and not to anger, because He is so full of love (which is longsuffering), we are not consumed. Imagine if The LORD’s capacity for patience and longsuffering were akin to that of man. If it were even the most patient man, all of mankind would no doubt have been judged and destroyed long ago. “But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, and longsuffering, plenteous in mercy and truth.” [Psa 86:15]
If you have not yet seen God as longsuffering, think for a moment upon sin. Think of the vilest of wrongs, ones perhaps that you have seen or even just heard of. And remember too that we see and hear but an extremely minute fraction of all that occurs in the world. The extent of evil, both public and private, both outward and inward, is vast. When we remember how it is written, “The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men,” [Psa 33:13] and, “the eyes of The LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good,” [Prov 15:3] then we may come to a much deeper appreciation for The LORD’s longsuffering. As men, we may be able to hold our anger having only seen one or two wicked deeds; but imagine seeing all the wickedness all the time for all of eternity and from every place: who among us could hold their anger then? Ah, but The LORD God is longsuffering. Praise be to His name.
Now, let us look at a brief analogy which will help us to better understand these things. Imagine that a man’s longsuffering were likened to absorbent material and that inciteful things were likened unto water. For the average man, our capacity for patience is unto that of a tissue: we are easily overwhelmed and spurred onto anger from a relatively small amount of provocations. But The LORD is not so: His ability to consume water is like the earth. Remember how it is written, “there are three things that are never satisfied; yea, four things say not, it is enough…the earth that is not filled with water.” [Prov 30:15, 16] Though there comes a time when The LORD must judge, yet as it says in Isaiah, this is The LORD’s “strange work.” [Isa 28:21] He is so patient that when He does exercise wrath and anger it is but a strange thing, an uncommon thing. And so, though The LORD’s patience does have an end, yet to us it is like the earth, which though it drinks up so much water, yet soon enough it is thirsty again. And so too with The LORD’s mercy and longsuffering, for as it is written regarding His mercies, “they are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” [Lam 3:23]
May God be ever praised for His longsuffering, and may we ever be filled with more of His love that we might be more like Him.