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Psalm 103:10
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.
8The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness.
9He will not always accuse; neither will he stay angry forever.
10He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor repaid us for our iniquities.
11For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward those who fear him.
12As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Notice
The word “repaid” makes mercy concrete: the psalm acknowledges real sins while praising God for withholding the full return those sins deserve.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your understanding of mercy when the psalm speaks of repayment?
Write on thisHow does this verse help you acknowledge sin without treating deserved punishment as the whole story?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Ezra 9:13“After all that has come on us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have …Both passages acknowledge iniquities while declaring that God has dealt with his people less severely than their guilt deserves.
Lamentations 3:22It is because of the LORD’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his mercies don’t fail.Both passages recognize mercy in what God has withheld: deserved repayment in the psalm and destruction in Lamentations.
Nehemiah 9:31“Nevertheless in your manifold mercies you didn’t make a full end of them, nor forsake them; for you are a gracious and merciful God.Both passages praise God's restraint toward his people, with Nehemiah naming the mercy that kept him from making a full end.
Psalm 130:3If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand?Both psalms reckon with sins before God and the impossibility of standing on what a person deserves.
Job 11:6that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.Zophar's claim shares the psalm's language of receiving less than iniquity deserves, though his accusation against Job requires caution.
Daniel 9:18–19My God, turn your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name; for we do not present our petitions before …Both passages locate hope in God's mercy, acknowledging that his people's own standing gives them no claim on his favor.
Habakkuk 3:2LORD, I have heard of your fame. I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Renew your work in the middle of the years. In the middle of the years make it known. In …Both passages speak of mercy where judgment is in view, with Habakkuk asking God to remember mercy in wrath.
Psalm 119:124Deal with your servant according to your loving kindness. Teach me your statutes.Both psalms concern how God deals with his people: one celebrates withheld repayment, while the other asks for loving kindness.
Job 42:8Now therefore, take to yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall …Both passages describe God withholding treatment that wrongdoing deserves; in Job, God appoints an offering and Job's prayer for his friends.
Psalm 28:4Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them …Both psalms speak of deserved repayment, but Psalm 28 asks for judgment on the wicked while Psalm 103 celebrates mercy received.
Leviticus 16:22The goat shall carry all their iniquities on himself to a solitary land, and he shall release the goat in the wilderness.Both passages address iniquities: the psalm speaks of withheld repayment, while Leviticus describes a goat carrying iniquities away.
1 Kings 11:34“‘However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake whom I chose, who …Both passages describe restraint in judgment, with Kings specifying that God will leave part of a kingdom intact for David's sake.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. gratitude. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to make sin sound small to receive comfort here. The psalm names its seriousness and praises God for mercy greater than his people deserve.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).