Who is the LORD Indulgent

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What if the God you were taught to fear is far more patient than you ever imagined? A lot of us carry around this idea of God as someone with a short fuse—quick to judge, faster to punish. But when you look closely at scripture, that picture falls apart.

God didn’t lead with power or wrath when he introduced himself to Moses. He said he’s “long-suffering.” In Hebrew, that phrase points to a “long nose”—a strange image unless you know what it means. When we’re angry, we breathe fast through our noses. But someone slow to anger takes deep, steady breaths. That’s the kind of patience God claims for himself.

Psalm 103:8 says it plainly: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” The patience is wrapped in mercy, start to finish.
That context changes how we read “The Lord is my shepherd” in Psalm 23. He’s not hovering with a rod, waiting for us to slip up. He’s not that kind of Shepherd. He’s more like a grandfather who lets the kids sneak another handful of candy just because he enjoys their company. He’s not keeping a scorecard of your mess-ups—he’s ready to forgive before you even ask.
The truth is that we tend to project our own baggage onto God. We think he’s like the impatient boss, the harsh parent, the exasperated teacher. But he’s not. He’s the father in the story of the prodigal son, watching the road, hoping to see you coming home, not so he can say, “I told you so,” but so he can throw his arms around you.

God has let you make your choices—even the ones that hurt you. He didn’t stop loving you. He’s never stopped waiting.

So today, ask yourself honestly: What if your Shepherd really is that patient? What would change if you stopped fearing his disappointment and started trusting his mercy?

God isn’t who many of us were told he is. He’s far more kind, more patient, and more ready to welcome you than you think.

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Episode Transcript

Austin Gardner (00:01):
I very much enjoyed sharing with you about
the Lord.
As you recall, I asked you toconsider that he gets to tell us
who he is, and he said I am theLord.
He said the Lord, the Lord, god, merciful, gracious.
And guess what?

(00:21):
The next word is Long-suffering.
He is long-suffering, so I am,is my shepherd, merciful is my
shepherd.
Merciful, merciful is myshepherd, gracious is my
shepherd.
And now, long-suffering is myshepherd.
That means he is slow to anger,that means he is patient.

(00:46):
Doesn't that kind of go againsta lot of what you've thought
about God?
If you're honest, you don'tthink of him as being all that
patient.
But here's what the Bible saysabout him in Psalm 103, 8.
The Lord is merciful andgracious, slow to anger and
plenteous in mercy.

(01:08):
I find that hilarious.
You see, that's not the God youand I picture.
That's not the God thatreligion would paint for us.
One thing that surprises meabout Psalm 103.8 is it says the
Lord is merciful at thebeginning of the verse, and at
the end of the verse it says andplenteous in mercy.
Did you get that?
He's full of mercy at thebeginning and plenty of mercy at

(01:31):
the end, and he's slow to anger.
He is slow to anger.
Now, what's really funny isthat that uh word in the Hebrew
refers to having long featherson a bird so that when it can
cover its children, it can coverthe birdlings, it can cover the

(01:52):
little birds.
It's far reaching and that'show the mercy of the Lord is.
Another interesting thing aboutthat word is it talks about
being long nosed.
Interesting thing about thatword is it talks about being
long-nosed.
The Hebrew idiom had in mind along nose, and that doesn't make
a lot of sense to us.
Until you think about whathappens when you get mad.

(02:13):
You breathe quickly and youstart breathing and your nose is
fast and it's not long, it'sshort.
And God says I don't getexcited, I don't breathe hard
and fast, I don't lose my cool,I am long suffering, I am

(02:34):
patient, I am very slow to anger.
That's what the Bible saysabout the God that you serve.
He is a long nose, he is slowto get angry.
Now, I love this.
In Nehemiah, chapter 9 and verse17,.
The Bible says and these people, the people of God, refused to

(02:56):
obey, they were not mindful ofthe wonders, they didn't
consider all that God had done.
Sounds a lot like us, doesn'tit?
They hardened their necks, theygot stiff-necked, they got
stubborn, they got against God,and that's their attitude.
And they rebelled and theyappointed a captain that would
go back and return them to theirbondage that he had just freed

(03:19):
them from.
But look what he said you are agod ready to pardon, ready to
pardon.
He is very ready to forgive you, very ready to make change
things, to give you new life.
He is ready to pardon.
He is gracious.

(03:40):
Does it remember what it saysin the bible when he said I
won't tell you my name?
And he said I'm gracious.
And he said I'm merciful.
And then he said I'm slow toanger.
He said and I'm of greatkindness.
And he said and I won't turn onyou.
That's who God is.
That's who God is.

(04:01):
You know what it means when youtalk about God being patient,
when you talk about God beinglong-suffering, it is God being
enduring.
It is him enduring patiently,whatever.
That's what happened on thecross of Calvary, when the God
of heaven in human flesh was onthe cross, paying the price for

(04:23):
your salvation and my salvation,taking our sins on him, because
God the Father loved you.
God the Father was in the Sonand with the Son and working
through the Son, and he enduredeverything patiently on the
cross.
He endured everything patientlyon the cross, the cross.

(04:48):
He endured everything patientlyon the cross.
The idea here is that God isindulgent.
Are you ready for that?
God is indulgent.
That means he is lenient, he isoverly generous.
It means that he tends to allowsomeone to have or do whatever
they want.
In other words, god acts likethe grandfather acts about the
children.
You know, the parents are goingto be a lot quicker to

(05:11):
discipline, and they should,they should be.
But God says, hey, I'mindulgent, I'm long-suffering, I
put up with a lot of junk.
I put up with a lot of junk, Iput up with a lot of junk.
He's allowing someone to enjoysomething, even if it's not
proper or healthy or appropriate, like when my grandchildren

(05:33):
would come into my office andgrab a bowl of M&M's and just
sit down on the couch and talkto me and sit there just eating
M&M after M&M.
You see, god takes the patientview.
God ignores our weaknesses.
He doesn't look for fault in us.
He's just too sweet, like agrandparent to their children.

(05:58):
When the children of Israelsaid we're tired of eating angel
food.
We're tired of eating angelfood.
We're tired of eating manna.
God gave them meat becausethat's what they asked for,
because God is patient.
Now I say all this because Iwant you to know when you get to
Psalm 23 and he says the Lordis my shepherd.
If you don't know who the Lordis, then you don't understand my
shepherd.
If you don't know who the Lordis, then you don't understand.

(06:22):
See, if you got the Lord downas being judgmental and
disciplined in you, then you'regoing to get to the rod and the
staff and you're going tobelieve God's there to hit you
with it.
That's not what's happening.
The Lord needs you to know whohe is.
The whole psalm hinges on thesetwo words the Lord Yahweh, I am,

(06:43):
I am is merciful.
He is full of mercy.
I am is gracious Another wordfor mercy I am is indulgent.
I am is slow to anger.
I am is patient.
I am is long-suffering.
You've got to get that straightin your head.
You've got to get that straightin your head.

(07:03):
You've got to get that straightin your heart.
You've got to understand justhow much God loves you.
Because you see, when Davidlooks up and sees the Lord, he
sees mercy.
When David looks up and seesthe Lord, he doesn't see
judgment.
When David looks up and seesthe Lord, he sees graciousness.
He's not expecting harshtreatment.
When David looks up and seeslong suffering and patient, he's

(07:25):
thinking that's the Lord Iserve and that's the Lord you
serve.
And so I know you're goingthrough stuff, things are
happening in your life, but I'mafraid you might have a wrong
view of God.
You might have a wrong view ofGod.
You might not know him as he isand you might not see him as he
is.
And I want to challenge you toget a hold of who he is.

(07:47):
The Lord, the Lord full ofmercy, the Lord very kind and
generous and gracious, the Lordlong-suffering, the Lord who
doesn't get excited and agitatedeasily.
He's indulgent.
And if you get that straight,then the Lord is my shepherd,
gracious is my shepherd, patientis my shepherd.

(08:12):
We often have had parents thatwere short-tempered and easily
angered with us.
Not our God, not our shepherd.
So continue with me in Psalmchapter 23.
But today you meditate on this.
The shepherd, the God of heaven, the Savior, is patient with
you.
He's allowed you to do a lot ofjunk you shouldn't have done.

(08:33):
He's allowed you to go to a lotof places you shouldn't have
gone.
You thought he was mad at youand cut you off, but he just sat
there patiently saying I loveyou, buddy, and I want you to
come home, just like the fatherof the prodigal son.
And it's sweet because we servethat God.
He's been so patient with me,so patient with my being
judgmental, so patient with mybeing legalistic, so patient

(08:56):
with me not understanding evenwho he was and that's who he is
with you today.
God bless you and I hope youenjoy today as you think about
how slow to anger, how patient,how indulgent our shepherd is.