But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Parallel translations
- WEB But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
- BSB But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- NKJV But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
- NASB But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, Slow to anger and abundant in mercy and truth.
- NLT But you, O Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
In contrast to his enemies, David appeals to God as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in love and truth. God's revealed character is David's confidence.
Overview
This verse directly quotes God's self-description to Moses, anchoring David's hope in God's covenant character against his foes. Unlike the proud who disregard God, the LORD is full of mercy and faithfulness. This same compassionate God is fully revealed in Christ, who is the truth and the embodiment of grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Eph 2:4–7But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
- Ps 130:7Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
- Ps 103:8The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
- Eph 1:7In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
- Ps 145:8The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
- Ps 86:5For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
- Joel 2:13And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
- Neh 9:17And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.
- Ps 85:10Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
- Ps 111:4He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion.
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
- Num 14:18The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.
- Ps 98:3He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
- Ps 130:4But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
- Rom 5:20–21Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
- Exod 31:6–7And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;
- John 1:17For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
- Rom 15:8–9Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 86:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.