God is long of nose and slow to anger
The Hebrew idiom that reveals God's love as patient and steadfast.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps.103:8).
Imagine that your nose was as long as your arm. You would have to move slowly and carefully so as not to bump into people with your nose. You’d being saying, “Oh, sorry I bumped into you with my nose.” Or, conversely, as people ran into your nose, you might get annoyed and say things like, “Hey! Will you please watch where you’re going? You just bent my nose!” You can see that if your nose was as long as your arm, you would have to control your temper. You would have to be slow to anger, or you’d have unpleasant encounters with people all the time all on account of all the trouble it would cause. If you weren’t careful and hit someone with your nose, that person might retaliate by tying your nose into a knot or giving it a violent tug. So, if you had any say in the matter, you would probably choose not to have a long nose. You’d be pleased with an ordinary three- or four-centimeter proboscis.
The Bible tells us that God has a long nose. It says so in Exodus 34:6 and also in Psalm 103: 8 quoted above. In English, these texts state that God is “slow to anger.” Slow to anger is the English translation of Hebrew which, if translated literally, is actually “long of nose.” Thus the verse could be translated: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, long of nose and abounding in steadfast love.” Long of nose is a Hebrew idiom meaning that God is patient, does not get angry easily, and does not stay angry very long.
Our turn to shine
Think of how quickly we often respond to some small annoyance with a nasty retort. Think of all the anger in the world between people of different nationalities, skin colours, income levels, religions and so many other differences. Listen as politicians vent their anger at their political opponents and as people belittle each other on social media platforms. The world is becoming a meaner and angrier place. As God’s children – both young and old – we should all be examples of mercy, grace, patience and steadfast love. We should all be slow to anger as well. Like our loving God, we should all become long of nose.
