由於新冠肺炎病毒擴散全球，導致許多郵輪滯留在港口，乘客也被迫在船上隔離。在《華爾街日報》刊登的一篇文章中提及一些受訪旅客的談話內容。在談到他們因被隔離而有更多交談的機會時，一位乘客開玩笑地說，他那位擁有超強記憶的配偶，能夠翻出他曾做的每一件錯事、每一個過失，而且還能說個沒完沒了！

像這樣的故事不禁令我們莞爾一笑，但也提醒我們人的軟弱，更警戒我們別緊抓著那些應該放下的事物。但有什麼能幫助我們放下，去善待曾經傷害我們的人呢？從聖經看看那位偉大的上帝吧，詩篇103篇8-12節就對祂有深刻的描繪。

新普及譯本對8-10節的翻譯，值得我們思考：「上主慈悲憐憫，不輕易發怒，滿懷慈愛。祂不會沒完沒了地指責我們，也不會永遠心懷憤怒。祂沒有為我們所有的罪過懲罰我們，也沒有按我們應得的嚴懲處置我們。」當我們以禱告的心閱讀經文的時候，不妨求上帝幫助我們重新思考自己那些惡意的報復計劃，或是想嚴懲他人的念頭。這也能促使我們為自己禱告，並為那些我們不願寬容、憐憫與饒恕，而想要傷害的人祈求。

One of consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic was the docking of cruise ships and the quarantining of passengers. The Wall Street Journal featured an article that included interviews of some of the tourists. Commenting about how being quarantined provided more opportunities for conversations, one passenger joked how his spouse—who possessed an excellent memory—was able to bring up every transgression he ever had and sensed she wasn’t done yet!

Accounts like this might make us smile, remind us of our humanness, and serve to caution us if we’re prone to hold too tightly to the things we should release. Yet what helps us to be kindly disposed to those who hurt us? Glimpses of our great God, as He’s portrayed in passages like Psalm 103:8–12.

The Message’s rendering of verses 8–10 is noteworthy: “God is sheer mercy and grace; not easily angered, he’s rich in love. He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever. He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.” Asking for God’s help as we prayerfully read Scripture can cause us to have second thoughts about ill-conceived payback or plans to punish. And it can prompt prayers for ourselves and for those we may be tempted to harm by withholding grace, mercy, and forgiveness.