Why is God Kind?

“Your gentleness made me great.”

Isn’t that a beautiful verse? I thought so the first time I noticed it. Truth be told, though, its meaning wasn’t immediately apparent. How did God’s gentleness make the psalmist great? And what can we, living thousands of years after its writing, learn from it?

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One way to understand this verse is to look at the psalmist himself: David. He was a man after God’s own heart…but a man who sometimes followed his own wayward heart. His biggest “follow-your-heart” blunder was, of course, his pursuit of Bathsheba. In seeking to win her, he wilfully blinded himself to what he knew was right — and acknowledged his sin only when confronted by Nathan, and only after causing irreparable harm. According to God’s law, death would have been a just punishment for David.

Instead, God was gentle.

David could have viewed God’s gentleness as a sign that sin wasn’t really a big deal. That maybe God didn’t even notice it. That indulging lustful thoughts was a viable option for the future.

We know from reading Psalm 51 that David chose a better perspective. “I know my transgressions,” he wrote, “and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight… Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me… Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.”

Through His tender mercy, God drew David back to Himself, and David’s response was to humbly repent, reverently worship, and joyfully proclaim the righteousness of the Lord.

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Sometimes — often! — I stumble in my walk with God. I turn aside towards pride and selfishness, wandering for far too long, fooling myself into thinking that because I’m doing just fine, what I’m doing must be fine. Yet, in truth, God is — over and over again — much more patient with me than I deserve.

Many years after David, Paul echoes Psalm 18 in writing to the Romans: “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 12:2).

We all, like David, deserve death (Rom. 3:23); yet God, in His gentleness and kindness, withholds punishment. If we fully grasp the depth of our sin, we should, like David, be awed by His steadfast love and mercy. We should run, not after the vain pleasures we feel like we’re getting away with, but towards the One who waits patiently for us to turn to Him in repentance.

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,

And therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.

“For the Lord is a God of justice;

Blessed are all those who wait for Him.” (Isaiah 30:18)