Bible Strands
Psalms 103:8
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist (David, per the superscription) is addressing his own soul in an act of self-reminder, listing the attributes of Yahweh that justify praise. The immediately preceding verse (v. 7) grounds this in the revelation of God's ways to Moses and Israel.
The words — חָסֶד (chesed, H2617) is rendered "loving devotion" in the BSB but literally means covenant loyalty — the obligation a party owes another by bond, not a feeling. The phrase אֶ֖רֶךְ אַפַּיִם (erekh appayim, "long of anger[s]") is a literal construction that pictures anger as a length to be stretched before it breaks.
The thread — This is the self-revelation formula Yahweh spoke to Moses at Sinai (Exodus 34:6) and is echoed in the prayer of Psalms 86:15 and the call to repentance in Joel 2:13. It functions as a fixed liturgical confession of God's character across both Testaments.
Why it lands — The verse is not a standalone comfort but the premise for the next line: because His anger is long and His loyalty great, He will not harbor it forever (v. 9). It asks the reader to treat God's character as the ground for trusting that His discipline is not His final word.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
Cross-references
- Psalms 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- Joel 2:13 So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
- Exodus 34:6 Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
- Psalms 145:8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion.
- Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
- Psalms 86:5 For You, O Lord, are kind and forgiving, rich in loving devotion to all who call on You.
- Numbers 14:18 ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their children to the third and fourth generation.’
- Jonah 4:2 So he prayed to the LORD, saying, “O LORD, is this not what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I was so quick to flee toward Tarshish. I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.
- Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
- James 5:11 See how blessed we consider those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen the outcome from the Lord. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.