"NEITHER WILL HE KEEP HIS ANGER FOREVER." Ours is a God of great compassion. When we sin, He will correct us in order to reclaim us; His strokes often fall heavy and the effects remain for a long time. But He will not always chide; when we repent and confess, He pardons and restores. His anger is but for a moment; but His mercy is everlasting. He loves when He frowns, and pities while He reproves. "The Lord is gracious, full of compassion, and plenteous in mercy; 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." Let us not therefore despise the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when we are rebuked of Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. In a little wrath He may hide His face from us for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will He have mercy on us, and prove Himself our Redeemer. His frowns are transient but His love is everlasting. His strokes are few and light but He daily loads us with benefits, and crowns the year with His bounty.

For Meditation:
God will not always chide;
And when His strokes are felt,
They are far fewer than our crimes
And lighter than our guilt:
He chides us with a Father's heart,
From Him we never shall depart.