11 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
2 A jealous and avenging God is Jehovah: an avenger is Jehovah, and full of fury: Jehovah taketh vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth [wrath] for his enemies. 3 Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and doth not at all clear [the guilty]: Jehovah,—his way is in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 5 The mountains quake before him, and the hills melt, and the earth is upheaved at his presence, and the world, and all that dwell therein. 6 Who shall stand before his indignation? and who shall abide in the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken asunder by him. 7 Jehovah is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 8 But with an overrunning flood he will make a full end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Nahum 1:1-8
Commentary on Nahum 1:1-8
(Read Nahum 1:1-8)
About a hundred years before, at Jonah's preaching, the Ninevites repented, and were spared, yet, soon after, they became worse than ever. Nineveh knows not that God who contends with her, but is told what a God he is. It is good for all to mix faith with what is here said concerning Him, which speaks great terror to the wicked, and comfort to believers. Let each take his portion from it: let sinners read it and tremble; and let saints read it and triumph. The anger of the Lord is contrasted with his goodness to his people. Perhaps they are obscure and little regarded in the world, but the Lord knows them. The Scripture character of Jehovah agrees not with the views of proud reasoners. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is slow to wrath and ready to forgive, but he will by no means acquit the wicked; and there is tribulation and anguish for every soul that doeth evil: but who duly regards the power of his wrath?