Exodus 34:6-7

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.

A few weeks back, my husband and I were discussing a current, rather depressing situation. In that conversation, we both admitted that in some ways, we feel like God is using these circumstances to punish us for something (we're not sure what, we just feel punished). We also freely admitted that we know this is not in keeping with the character of God -- He doesn't just arbitrarily punish us for no reason (or for reasons that we don't know). To better my perspective, I chose this verse.

I love that this is how God has chosen to describe Himself, and His relationship with us. These are what God's reputation should be.

key words: (This verse has a TON of keywords. I found it hard to memorize)
after the keywords are my own definitions and associations. They help me remember.

LORD - Jehova, I AM, personal God
passed - went by, short time period
proclaimed - said, decreed, spoke, it was so
merciful - not giving me the punishment that I deserve
gracious - giving me many blessings that I don't deserve
long suffering - patient, slow to anger, suffering
abounding - over and above, overwhelming, drowning,
goodness - everything right, nice-ness, pure, kind
truth - absolute, integrity, right-ness
keeping - secure, holding
mercy - not giving what people in general deserve
thousands - many, a whole lot -- more than the 3-4 generations below
forgiving - removing, restoring relationship
iniquity - intentional wrongdoing?
transgression - stepping outside the boundaries
sin - missing the "right" mark
by no means - no way, not on your life,
clearing - acquitting, forgetting, spacing out
guilty - I did it
visiting - a short stay
fathers - ancestor, influencer
children - offspring, influenced
generation - 20-30 years?

Comments:
God identifies Himself as:

1. Gracious and merciful. We deserve death, He gives us eternal and abundant life
2. Long suffering. Not impatient with me. Interesting that God suffers.
3. Abounding in goodness and truth. Goodness in itself, but also toward me.
   
4. Keeping mercy for thousands. Many are shown mercy
5. Forgiving iniquity AND trespasses AND sin - this is a three-peat, really emphatic. God forgives every form of offense.
6. By no means clearing the guilty. Justice in addition to mercy and grace. He reads our heart, not just our actions.
7. Visiting the iniquity of the father upon children and children's children to the third and fourth generation. This is a lot milder than mercy to the thousands. The visit lasts a short time, and it doesn't negate the offer of forgiveness. This visit seems to me like just the natural consequences of sin.

Verbs:
passed
proclaimed
abounding
keeping
forgiving
clearing
visiting

Adjectives:
merciful
gracious
long-suffering
abounding in...

Why this verse is worth memorizing:
How many times in the Bible do we have God tell us exactly what He is like? This is God's definition of Himself, and our perspective on God should match up with this verse. Hod is gracious and merciful, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands. That's my God, not some big mean guy who's trying to squish the life out of me.