The Lord is gracious and compassionate

Reading Psalm 145:8-10

"The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made."

Comforting words but not infrequently a passage like this is used to deny the existence of the God of the Bible. "If God is all powerful and perfectly loving then evil would not be allowed to exist in the world. Evil exists, therefore God does not." This argument is only effective on the basis of a denial of the early chapters of Genesis. God created a world in which evil did not exist and put man into a state of probationary perfection. People rebelled against God and refused to submit to him. A historical transition took place in which God cursed man and the earth and allowed a time in which we can experiment with sin and rebellion and in which we can taste both the judgment and mercy of God. It is in this context that a passage like this becomes extremely important. This passage and others like it remind us that even though we have rebelled against God and rejected him, and even though God has revealed his wrath against us he stills loves us and desires our return. In the midst of a situation where we have turned away from him God is pouring out his love and compassion on us and calling us to return to him that we may receive mercy and forgiveness. This combination of both judgment and mercy in the world reveals something of the character of God and of the character that he intends for us. We are in a terrible situation of our own making but God surrounds us with his love until the day when the curse is forever destroyed and those who have received him are renewed in the image of Christ.