Psalm 103:10 NKJV
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
The Beautiful Gap: When Mercy Stands in the Way
My Notes
“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” — Psalm 103:10 (NKJV)
There is a “gap” in your life that you may not have noticed today. It is the distance between what you deserved and what you actually received.
This single verse holds the gospel in miniature. David stands in awe—not at what God has done, but at what He has not done. “He has not dealt with us according to our sins.” Every one of us could echo that truth. If God dealt with us on the basis of strict justice, none of us could stand (Psalm 130:3). Yet mercy triumphs over judgment.
Think about this for a moment: God has seen every thought you’ve ever had, every failure, every rebellion—and still, He restrains His hand. Instead of wrath, He gives grace. Instead of condemnation, compassion. We often take that for granted, but David won’t let us. He is urging us to slow down, to recognize the mercy that has kept us alive, sustained us, and loved us despite our shortcomings.
But David points to a glorious “Negative.” He asks us to praise God not just for what He has done, but for what He has not done.
This is not because God ignores sin—He is too holy for that. Rather, it is because His wrath toward sin has already been poured out, not upon us, but upon Christ. As Isaiah foretold:
“He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him.” — Isaiah 53:5, NKJV
God did deal with our sins in Jesus. The punishment we deserved was laid upon the Son. Because of that, we now stand in grace. The justice that once condemned us now declares us righteous through Christ’s finished work.
Ezra captured this same heart of humility:
“And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such deliverance as this,” — Ezra 9:13, NKJV
Why is there a gap? Why didn’t the strike land? It isn’t because God is soft on sin or “misses” our mistakes. The gap exists because He dealt with Another according to our sins. As Sir Richard Baker beautifully noted, God is too just to take revenge twice for the same faults. Because He turned His “fierce wrath” upon Jesus, He turns His “undeserved kindness” toward us.
God has looked at your life, seen your worst moments, and decided to reward you according to Christ’s merits rather than your own iniquities. That is the essence of the Gospel. It is a moderation that should lead us not to take sin lightly, but to fall on our knees in repentance and awe.
Key Takeaways
- The Negative Blessing: We owe God “adoring gratitude” for the punishments He has withheld. Our daily lot is not a “fair measurement” of our sins, but a testament to His grace.
- The Reason for the Gap: The only reason we aren’t consumed is that Christ was “chastened” in our place. Divine justice was satisfied at the Cross so that divine mercy could be poured out on us.
- Moderation in Discipline: Even when God does discipline His children, He does so “roundly” but in great moderation—never reaching the true punishment of what we actually deserve.
- Patience as a Path: God’s patience is not an excuse to continue in sin; it is a kindness designed to lead us back to Him (Romans 2:4).
Cross References (NKJV)
- Ezra 9:13
“And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such a deliverance as this…” - Lamentations 3:22
“Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” - Romans 2:4
“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” - 2 Corinthians 5:21
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” - Psalm 130:3–4 “If You, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared.”
Prayer
Abba, I stand in awe when I think of what You could have justly done to me. I think of the peace I don’t deserve, the comforts I have forfeited, and the life I still have despite my many failures. Thank You for not ‘measuring’ my life by my sins. Thank You, Jesus, for standing in the gap and taking the punishment of my iniquity so that I could receive the reward of Your righteousness. Let Your kindness lead me away from sin and deeper into Your heart today. I thank You Jesus. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Things to Think About:
- Counting the Withheld: Make a list of five “comforts” in your life today (health, family, peace, etc.). Reflect on how these are gifts of mercy rather than things you have “earned.”
- The Jesus Exchange: How does it change your self-image to know that God views you through Christ’s merits rather than your own history?
- The Moderated Rod: Looking back at a difficult time of “correction” in your life, can you see now how God was moderate and merciful even in the middle of that trial?
- Repentance through Kindness: Instead of fear, let God’s goodness lead you today. Is there a specific “iniquity” you want to turn away from simply because You are so overwhelmed by His grace?
Proverb for Today
In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise. The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little. The lips of the righteous feed many, But fools die for lack of wisdom. Proverbs 10:19-21 NKJV
Daily Scripture
Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:40-41 NKJV
Bill
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Summary of Commentaries:
These commentaries celebrate God’s mercy in withholding the judgment our sins actually deserve. Because Christ bore our punishment, God treats us with undeserved kindness rather than strict retribution. This “negative” blessing—what He has not done to us—should inspire profound gratitude, awe, and a life of sincere repentance.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” Else had Israel perished outright, and we also had long ago been consigned to the lowest hell. We ought to praise the Lord for what he has not done as well as for what he has wrought for us; even the negative side deserves our adoring gratitude. Up to this moment, at our very worst estate, we have never suffered as we deserved to suffer; our daily lot has not been apportioned upon the rule of what we merited, but on the far different measure of undeserved kindness. Shall we not bless the Lord? Every power of our being might have been rent with anguish, instead of which we are all in the enjoyment of comparative happiness, and many of us are exceedingly favored with inward joy; let then every faculty, yea, all that is within us, bless his holy name.
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Enduring Word
He has not dealt with us according to our sins: David knew the slow anger and abounding mercy of God personally. He knew that his sins (and the sins of his people) deserved much greater judgment or discipline than they had received. (Guzik)
i. “We ought to praise the Lord for what he has not done as well as for what he has wrought for us; even the negative side deserves our adoring gratitude.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “Why is it that God hath not dealt with us after our sins? Is it not because he hath dealt with another after our sins? Another who took our sins upon him.” (Baker, cited in Spurgeon)
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Albert Barnes
He hath not dealt with us after our sins – All may say this, and this “is” a ground of thanksgiving and praise. It is a matter for which we should render unceasing praise that God has not done to us as our sins deserved. Who of us can fail to stand in awe and to tremble when we think what God “might” have justly done to us; what sufferings he “might” have brought upon us, which would have been no more than we have deserved; what pain of body, what distress of mind, what anguish of bereavement – what sorrow, danger, sickness, losses – we “might” have suffered before the point would be reached at which it could be said that we were suffering more than a holy and just God might properly inflict on us.
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities – That is, he has not inflicted suffering on us that could be regarded in any proper sense as a just retribution for what we have done; or, so that it could properly be said that the one fairly “measured” the other.
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John Gill
He hath not dealt with us after our sins,…. God deals with his people, and deals with them roundly, for their sins, reproving them by his Spirit, and by his ministers, and by his chastising rod; but not after or according to them, or as they deserve; in this David acknowledges himself and other saints, with whom he joins, to be sinners, to have been guilty of sins, as none live without them; and that God had taken notice of them, and chastised them for them; but in great moderation, and not according to the due demerit of them:
nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; had he, if every transgression had received its just recompense of reward, they must have been sent to hell; the lake burning with fire and brimstone must have been their portion; the wages of sin is eternal death: the reason why God deals not with nor rewards his people according to the due desert of their sins is because Christ has bore them, and the chastisement of them, and made satisfaction to divine justice for them; see Ezra 9:13.
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Matthew Henry
We have found him so; we, for our parts, must own that he has not dealt with us after our sins, v. 10. The scripture says a great deal of the mercy of God, and we may all set to our seal that it is true, that we have experienced it. If he had not been a God of patience, we should have been in hell long ago; but he has not rewarded us after our iniquities; so those will say who know what sin deserves. He has not inflicted the judgments which we have merited, nor deprived us of the comforts which we have forfeited, which should make us think the worse, and not the better, of sin; for God’s patience should lead us to repentance, Rom. 2:4.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“He hath not dealt with us after our sins.” Why is it that God hath not dealt with us after our sins? Is it not because he hath dealt with another after our sins? Another who look our sins upon him; of whom it is said, that “God chastened him in his fierce wrath”? And why did he chasten him, but for our sins? O gracious God, thou art too just to take revenge twice for the same faults; and therefore, having turned thy fierce wrath upon him, thou wilt not turn it upon us too; but having rewarded him according to our iniquities, thou wilt now reward us according to his merits.
—Sir R. Baker.
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