TUESDAY

Psalm 30:4-5

• How is your view of God affected by knowing that His anger lasts “only a moment,” but his favor lasts “a lifetime”?

The ancient Hebrew word for “longsuffering” translates to “long of nose.” Yahweh is described as longsuffering repeatedly in the Old Testament, commonly referred to as having a long nose by the Hebrews. How do these multiple meanings collide? Think about cartoon depictions of someone who has lost their patience—someone who is angry: nostrils flared with smoke coming out of the ears, face red…what do you think of?

The reason “long nose” equates to patience is that the Hebrews associated anger with a reddened nose, nostrils wide with rage. Therefore, Yahweh was long-nosed, meaning it takes much longer for God’s wrath to kindle.

God does get angry. But it takes a long time. His love is an ocean. His nose is long.