The LORD Is Slow to Anger—and Will Not Clear the Guilty
This opening hymn gives the theology that controls everything that follows. Nahum deliberately holds together truths readers often separate: the LORD is jealous for what belongs to him, he judges persistent evil, he is “slow to anger,” he is great in power, and he is good—a stronghold who knows those who trust in him.
The wording reaches back especially to the divine self-revelation of Exodus 34:6–7. Jonah had appealed to the gracious side of that same revelation when Nineveh repented. Nahum now stresses the other side: divine patience does not mean evil is permanently excused. The storm, cloud, sea, rivers, mountains, fire, and shaking earth portray the LORD as the divine King before whom creation itself yields. Yet the center of terror for the oppressor is simultaneously refuge for those who trust him.