God has a compassion that goes beyond what we can fully comprehend. In fact, it is the very first character trait He declares about Himself - He is compassionate and merciful. His compassion reaches both those we would expect and those we would never imagine. He shows mercy to His own people and even to those considered His enemies. At one point, His compassion seems so scandalous that Jonah cries out in frustration, angry that God would forgive Israel’s enemies. As we explore this first and foundational trait of God’s character, we’ll discover what His boundless compassion reveals about the way He relates to us - and how He calls us to relate to the people around us.

Exodus 34:6-7

6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

NLT Exodus 34:6

6 The LORD passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The LORD! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. 

Jonah 3:6-4:4

The People of Nineveh Repent

6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah’s Anger and the LORD’s Compassion

4 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the LORD said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Exodus 2:23-25

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Exodus 3:7-8

7 Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

Duet 4:25-31

25 “When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. 28 And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. 31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them. 

Joel 2:12-13

Return to the LORD 12 “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; 13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

Psalm 103:11-13

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

For Adult Homes and Groups

Read and reflect on the following passages: Exodus 34:6-7; Psalm 103:11-13; Joel 2:12-13; Jonah 3:6-4:2.

1. When God describes Himself as “compassionate and merciful,” what do we learn about His heart toward you personally? Where do you most need to receive His compassion right now?

2. Why does God extend compassion not only to His people but also to His enemies (as in Jonah’s story)? What does this reveal about how different God’s mercy is from our own?

3. If God’s compassion reaches both the expected and the unexpected, how might He be inviting you to reflect that same compassion toward someone in your life? Is there anyone you struggle to see through the lens of His mercy?

For Families with Kids

1. Read Psalm 103:11-13 together.

2. Find the brightest star in the night sky tonight. Do you think you could ever reach it with a ladder? Why does this Psalm say God’s love is like the distance between the earth and the heavens?

3. If you start walking north, you will reach the North Pole and start going south. But if you walk east, do you ever stop going east? Why do you think God chose “east and west” to describe His forgiveness?

4. “Compassion” is a big word for “big love and kindness.” How has God shown you His kindness this week? Take time to share a moment.

5. Pray the Lord’s Prayer out loud together.