The Lord is merciful and gracious
So he made himself known to Moses, ( Exodus 34:6 ) , and so
David found him to be, and therefore calls upon his soul to bless
his name. God is "merciful" in the most tender and affectionate
manner; he has bowels of mercy, which yearn towards his people,
as those of a tender parent to its child, as the word signifies;
his mercy is free, without any motive or merit in men to engage
it; he delights in showing it; he constantly bestows it; it is
the source of all good things; it is communicated through Christ;
all mercies temporal and spiritual come by him; and this lays a
foundation for faith and hope: and he is gracious, as appears in
the eternal choice of his people to salvation; in providing a
Saviour and a ransom for them; in giving all grace and the
blessings of it to them in his Son; in giving him for them, and
all things to them with him; in justifying them by his
righteousness; in pardoning their sins for his sake; in taking
them into his family; in regenerating, calling, preserving, and
saving them:
slow to anger,
or "longsuffering" F4; even to wicked men, to the vessels
of wrath, to the old world, yea, to Jezebel, to whom he gave
space to repent; which longsuffering being abused and despised,
is an aggravation of condemnation: but rather here it intends
God's longsuffering to his people, as before conversion, waiting
till the time comes that he is gracious to them; and after
conversion, notwithstanding their backslidings and revoltings;
and this longsuffering is their salvation:
and plenteous in mercy;
large and abundant in it, as appears by the various instances of
it, and ways and methods in which he shows it; in election, in
the covenant, in redemption, in regeneration, in pardon and
eternal life; and by the abundance of it which he bestows on
every one of his people; and by the vast numbers which do partake
of it.