Slow To Chide!
So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord has
restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in
to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her.”
Genesis 16:2
One of our greatest hymns,
“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven,”
was written by a British vicar named
Henry Lyte.
You’ll find great encouragement from a phrase about
God in the second stanza having to do with
God’s grace
and favor. Lyte said our Lord is “slow to chide and swift
to bless.” We need a God like that because we’re so
prone to sinfulness and mistaken actions.
Take Sarah (Sarai), for example. She was impatient
for God’s promise to be
fulfilled, so she devised the
plan that involved Hagar, her maid, to have a child
with Abraham in her place.
We, too, get impatient and do things God doesn’t
want us to do. But the Lord forgave Sarah, and in
the end, He still used her to
fulfill His promise.
When we make mistakes, the Lord is merciful, and
that’s why we can sing, “Praise, my soul, the King
of heaven.” Praise Him today for the daily mercy
He imparts to us.
"Praise him for his grace and favor to his people
in distress. Praise him, still the same as ever,
slow to chide, and swift to bless."
Henry Lyte
