13 July, 2017

Psalm 103:10—“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities”



The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him (Ps. 103:8-11).


COMMON GRACE ARGUMENT:
One of the primary effects of common grace is said, by proponents, to be that “God exercises forbearance and longsuffering towards the world. Man collectively deserves the judicial outpouring of divine wrath, but God suspends it” (Donald Macleod, Behold Your God [Christian Focus, 1990], p. 118).

In connection with Psalm 103:10, it is often asked in sermons: “Is it not true of all men, on this side of the judgment, that ‘God hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities’?” (ibid, p. 127).


(I)

Prof. David J. Engelsma

In general, the case has been made that longsuffering is God’s loving attitude towards His elect people in their suffering in the world. In His fatherly love, He is moved to deliver them at once from their sufferings at the hands of the wicked but allows them to suffer because He is working out His plan for their full salvation and His plan for the wicked’s filling their cup of iniquity. It is comparable to the surgeon’s performance of a painful surgery upon his own dear child. He is inclined to spare the child, but in love for the child’s good he performs the surgery. 
    
As for Psalm 103:10, the text itself restricts itself to the godly, saved children of God: “us” and “our sins.” If anything is obvious in the Bible, it is that God does deal with the reprobate ungodly after their sins. He punishes them, and He punishes them with hell and damnation. 


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(II)

More to come! (DV)






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