Psalms 103:8

103:8 The Lord is compassionate and merciful;

he is patient ¹  and demonstrates great loyal love. ² 

Psalms 86:15

86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.

You are patient ³  and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. ⁴ 

Psalms 78:38

78:38 Yet he is compassionate.

He forgives sin and does not destroy.

He often holds back his anger,

and does not stir up his fury. ⁵ 

[103:8]  ¹ tn Heb “slow to anger” (see Ps 86:15).

[103:8]  ² tn Heb “and great of loyal love” (see Ps 86:15).

[86:15]  ³ tn Heb “slow to anger.”

[86:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”

[78:38]  ⁵ tn One could translate v. 38 in the past tense (“he was compassionate…forgave sin and did not destroy…held back his anger, and did not stir up his fury”), but the imperfect verbal forms are probably best understood as generalizing. Verse 38 steps back briefly from the narrational summary of Israel’s history and lays the theological basis for v. 39, which focuses on God’s mercy toward sinful Israel.