The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
We were having supper at the home of a young and relatively inexperienced Christian couple, when the name of Methuselah came up in the conversation. Willing to accept the Bible’s record of the great age to which that man lived, Dave asked me if I knew why God would have allowed anyone to live for 969 years. I told him I did know the answer, and pointed out the meaning of Methuselah’s name: ‘when he dies, it will come’. What happened when Methuselah died? The great flood! Because of God’s holiness, He must destroy that ancient and violently sinful civilization. And yet, because of His grace, He gave them the longest possible time in which to repent, the age of the oldest man who ever lived. The Bible is filled with examples of God’s longsuffering nature, His desire that sinful mankind would repent. God must judge sin if He is to maintain His holiness, but He is never in a hurry to do so. How wondrous is His grace!
It is true that God showed grace toward the antediluvian world, not only in giving them such a great space of time in which to repent, but in giving them an ark of safety that they could have used. It is true that God showed grace toward the Egyptians in giving them ten plagues during which to repent of their enslavement and persecution of the children of Israel. It is true that God showed grace during the many failings of the Israelites through their wilderness journey and in their promised land. But there is a little phrase in our text that indicates that God’s grace is directed toward a very special people. The words ‘to usward’ indicate that this great promise of longsuffering is directed toward you and me. Modern-language versions of the Bible incorrectly replace ‘usward’ with ‘you’. But ‘you’ could refer to anyone, while ‘usward’ refers to the ‘beloved’ who Peter is addressing in the previous verse. The ‘beloved’ are the dear Christians to whom Peter is writing: the dear suffering saints of His day, and the dear saints of our day. You and me.
Most of us can trace God’s longsuffering in our own experiences. In my own case, I was raised with a knowledge of the Gospel from as far back as I can remember in my childhood. Yet, the Lord had patience with me during years of neglect until I yielded to the Spirit’s strivings and trusted Christ at age 12. Thank God for His longsuffeng. As we review our Christian experience from salvation’s day until now, we can also see God’s great patience despite our stubbornness to yield to His will and His Word. We have often failed God in our foolishness, but never has He failed or deserted us.
Perhaps John Newton said it best in his lovely old hymn: ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me’. – Jim MacIntosh