Albert Barnes Commentary Nahum 1:3

"Jehovah is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means clear [the guilty]: Jehovah hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet." — Nahum 1:3 (ASV)

The Lord is slow to anger - Nahum takes up the words of Jonah (Jonah 4:2) as he spoke of God’s attributes toward Nineveh, but only to show the opposite side of them. Jonah declares how God is “slow to anger,” giving people time for repentance, and if they repent, “also repenting Himself of the evil.” Nahum, however, emphasizes that the long-suffering of God is not “slackness,” and that He is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

And strong in power - Divine long-suffering goes along with Divine power. God can be long-suffering because He can, whenever He sees fit, punish. His long-suffering is a sign, not of weakness, but of power. He can allow people the full extent of trial because, when they are past cure, He can end it at once. God is a righteous judge, strong and patient, and God is angry every day (Psalms 7:11). The wrath comes only at the end, but it is ever present with God.

He cannot help but be displeased with sin; and so the Psalmist describes in human terms the gradual approach of its execution. If he (the sinner) will not return (from evil or to God), He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and aimed it: He has prepared for him instruments of death; He has made His arrows burning (Psalms 7:12–13). We see the arrow with unquenchable fire, ready to be discharged, waiting for the final decision of the wicked, whether he will repent or not, but still the Day of the Lord will come (2 Peter 3:9–10). He will not at all acquit.

These words, He will not at all acquit, originally occur in the great declaration by Moses of God’s attributes of mercy, as a necessary limitation of them. They are carried forward to God’s people, yet with the side of mercy predominant (Jeremiah 30:11; Jeremiah 46:28). They are pleaded to God Himself (Numbers 14:18). They are the sanction of the third commandment (Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11).

God will not acquit of His own will, apart from His justice. So He says, I can of My own self do nothing (John 5:30); that is (in part), not like unjust judges, who call good evil and evil good, following their own will rather than the merits of the case, but, as I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just. He cannot even have mercy and spare unjustly, nor without the humility of penitence.

Even if it is Jerusalem, over which He wept, or His “companion, His own familiar friend” (Psalms 55:14), He, who is no accepter of persons, cannot of mere favor forgive the impenitent.

The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm - The vengeance of God comes at the end swiftly, vehemently, fearfully, irresistibly. When they say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction comes upon them (1 Thessalonians 5:3), and all creation stands at the command of the Creator against His enemies. He shall take to Himself His jealousy for complete armor, and make the creature His weapon, for the revenge of His enemies .

And the clouds are the dust of His feet - Perhaps the imagery is from the light dust raised by an earthly army, for which Nahum’s word (dust) is used (Ezekiel 26:10). The powers of heaven are arrayed against the might of earth. On earth, a little dust, soon to subside; in heaven, the whirlwind and the storm, which sweep away whatever does not bow before them. The vapors, slight in outward appearance, though formed of countless multitudes of mist-drops, are yet dark and lowering as they burst, and irresistible.

“The Feet of God are that power by which He tramples upon the ungodly.” So it is said to the Son, Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool. Tempests have also, not merely figuratively, been used to overthrow God’s enemies (Exodus 14:27; Joshua 10:11; Judges 5:20; 1 Samuel 2:10; 1 Samuel 7:10; 2 Samuel 22:15).