Posts Tagged ‘attributes of God’

Henry Law: When hope seems gone, let us rejoice in the God of our salvation

Posted: March 12, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, March, March Bible Readings, Psalms
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At Grace Gems, Henry Law comments:

Psalm 59:16, 17. “But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto You, O my strength, will I sing; for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.”

The joy of faith is a flame, which waters cannot quench. It has a life, which never can be slain. It has wings ever ready to soar on high. Paul and Silas, in their dungeon, prayed and sang praises. David, in his abode, closely besieged, professes that songs shall be on his lips. He announces the subject of his thanksgivings; they are the power, the strength, the mercy of his God. The same attributes are our property, our defense, our refuge, our shield. In the darkest days, then, let us sing. When hope seems gone, let us rejoice in the God of our salvation.

The deepest doctrines of God have to do with everyday life.

Posted: February 12, 2013 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Exodus, February
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John Piper, in a sermon on Exodus 33, “I WIll Be Gracious to Whom I Will Be Gracious”

Now the question rises why in 33:18 Moses prayed to see God’s glory? “I pray thee, show me thy glory.” I think the reason was this: Moses knew that his request for God’s presence with a stiff-necked people would never succeed if it were based on any qualification in himself or in the people. (In 34:9 he included himself in the sin and iniquity of the people.) So for Moses to have assurance that God would actually be this gracious to Israel, he needed to see some basis in God and not in himself or the people. He needed a glimpse into the nature of God.

He knew God was an all-glorious God. But was this glory of such a nature that it would encourage Moses to believe that God would really be gracious to a stiff-necked people? So Moses says, Show me your glory. Let me have a glimpse into your divine nature. Let me see the meaning of your great name. Show me the foundation of this amazing promise. Give me some assurance that you will indeed grant your saving presence to this stiff-necked people!

To this God responds in verse 19, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name YAHWEH; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” In other words, when Moses asks to behold God’s glory, God reveals as of first importance his name, which he explains with the words, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.”

So in its Old Testament context the declaration of God’s absolute freedom to be gracious to whomever he pleases is intended to give Moses hope and assurance that God indeed can and will be gracious to the stiff-necked people of Israel and go with them to the promised land.

Theology and Everyday Life

The Bible never gives us glimpses of God’s nature merely for intellectual discussion. It opens the name and glory of God to our understanding in order to help us revere God and love him and trust him and obey him. So when God stands before Moses and uncovers his innermost soul—the glory of his absolute divine freedom—he is doing it for a very practical purpose, namely, to give Moses encouragement to get on with his mission of leading a stiff-necked people on to the promised land.

The deepest doctrines of God have to do with everyday life. Theology is the most relevant and practical of all the human disciplines. If that isn’t our experience, it’s either because our theology is untrue, or because we go about it in a spirit of irreverence and make a game of it. The doctrines of God revealed in the Bible are of immense personal, practical, and eternal importance. O how we need to study the name and glory of God.

God cannot be managed

Posted: November 13, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Job, November
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Job’s friends have theories about God.  They think they understand God.  But these theories can’t explain the reality of  Job’s situation. These theories attempt to place God in a box, to reduce God to someone they can control. But in Job 12, it is clear that God cannot be managed.

“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released. If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land. To him belong strength and victory; both deceived and deceiver are his. He leads counselors away stripped and makes fools of judges. He takes off the shackles put on by kings and ties a loincloth around their waist. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows men long established. He silences the lips of trusted advisers and takes away the discernment of elders.”

His friends just do not seem to understand the character of God.

Can you see God in these long passages of Isaiah?

Posted: September 6, 2012 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Isaiah, September
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As we approach some days of long readings in Isaiah, let’s just pause to understand Isaiah’s purpose in writing.  Isaiah was a well-educated man, married with two sons and called to preach in Jerusalem during the period of 740 BC until after 701 BC.  This was the period after King Uzziah died (ch6) and the succeeding kings were Jothan, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  Isaiah confronts idolatry, hypocrisy, greed, self-indulgence and cynicism.  He is laughed at, but his prophecies all come true.  God uses the nations around Israel and Judah to bring them to their knees, to bring them to a point of trusting in Him alone.  Then God brings judgment on those nations, and much of what we read in Is 14-16 today is judgment on Babylon and Assyria.

Although much in these passages are hard to understand, look for glimpses of God’s character, His divine attributes in these readings.  Notice verses like Isaiah 14:24, 27

The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,

For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?

Do you see the awesome nature of God here?  He PLANS, He PURPOSES, and NOTHING can stop Him!  There are no kings strong enough, no presidents powerful enough, no sin great enough…nothing stops God’s plans and purposes.  God is sovereign and omnipotent!

God’s name manifested in Jesus

Posted: December 11, 2011 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, John
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“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.  Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.” John 17:6-7

John MacArthur, in a sermon, “Jesus Prays For His Disciples, Part 1″

Jesus came into the world to do this, to manifest the name of God. That little statement there is loaded, friends, grab that one, that is loaded. “I have manifested Thy name …” Jesus Christ came into this world to declare God, did you knowthat? He came into this world to manifest God to men.

Now, let me show you two thoughts that are inherent in that statement. Number one thought is: in the Old Testament the use of the expression “the name” was very special. It does not mean simply the name of a person. He’s not saying — I have declared the name of God in the sense that I’ve told people Your name. It’s not as if He were to say — Listen, I’ve told people Your name is Jehovah, now I’ve done my job … running around saying God’s name is Jehovah. That’s not it. It’s not like, you know, saying Joe or Mary or Bill, it’s not like giving somebody’s name. When it uses the word “name” it means the whole character and the nature of the person as far as it is known. And when Jesus says, “I have declared Your name,” He means I have revealed Your character. That’s what He means….

…every attribute of God was on display in Jesus, wasn’t it? Boy, there’s a Bible study for you. Just get a list’ of all the attributes of God out of the Old Testament and go back over that list and mark every New Testament passage where every one of those attributes is on display … every attribute of God was displayed in Jesus Christ … every one of them. Most of them all together displayed on the cross. You want to know what God’s like? Who do you look at? Jesus Christ. So, He said — I have manifested Thy name. Isn’t that a beautiful insight into His work?

“For I am God and not man”

Posted: December 4, 2011 by Pam Larson in December, Devotionals/Commentaries, Hosea
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My heart recoils within me,
my compassion grows warm and tender.
I will not execute my fierce anger,
I will not again destroy Ephraim;
for I am God and not man,
the Holy One in your midst,
and I will not come to destroy. Hosea 11:9

Wow, God’s grace at work! That is why he doesn’t give up on Israel, or on us. Our hope is based on the faithfulness of God, and His is not based on our unfaithfulness to him. The words of these two verses braid together strands of his grace into a rope of love, a cord of compassion that slips around our wandering hearts. God’s love is relentless and won’t let his people go. Although he does have to judge and punish them, he can never finally give up on them or hand them over to total destruction.

We see attributes of God in this passage in Hosea:

  • God’s holiness is foundational to his love.
  • God isn’t vindictive.
  • God is compassionate and tender.
  • He is righteous in his judgment.
  • His punishment is remedial.
  • His forgiving grace is at work.
  • His purpose in all the circumstances is reconciliation.
  • He is not like us.
  • His holiness, mercy and grace will ultimately bring his people back to the land.

Glimpses of God’s character in Isaiah

Posted: September 6, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Isaiah, September
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As we approach some days of long readings in Isaiah, let’s just pause to understand Isaiah’s purpose in writing.  Isaiah was a well-educated man, married with two sons and called to preach in Jerusalem during the period of 740 BC until after 701 BC.  This was the period after King Uzziah died (ch6) and the succeeding kings were Jothan, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  Isaiah confronts idolatry, hypocrisy, greed, self-indulgence and cynicism.  He is laughed at, but his prophecies all come true.  God uses the nations around Israel and Judah to bring them to their knees, to bring them to a point of trusting in Him alone.  Then God brings judgment on those nations, and much of what we read in Is 14-16 today is judgment on Babylon and Assyria.

Although much in these passages are hard to understand, look for glimpses of God’s character, His divine attributes in these readings.  Notice verses like Isaiah 14:24, 27

24 The Lord of hosts has sworn:
“As I have planned,
so shall it be,
and as I have purposed,
so shall it stand,

27 For the Lord of hosts has purposed,
and who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
and who will turn it back?

Do you see the awesome nature of God here?  He PLANS, He PURPOSES, and NOTHING can stop Him!  There are no kings strong enough, no presidents powerful enough, no sin great enough…nothing stops God’s plans and purposes.  God is sovereign and omnipotent!

This is a special attribute of God.

Posted: September 4, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, Luke, September
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J.C.Ryle, comments on Luke 21:20-24

We should mark in this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ’s perfect knowledge. He gives us a fearful picture of the miseries which were coming on Jerusalem. Forty years before the armies of Titus encompassed the city, the dreadful circumstances which would attend the siege are minutely described. The distress of weak and helpless women–the slaughter of myriads of Jews–the final scattering of Israel in captivity among all nations–the treading down of the holy city by the Gentiles for eighteen hundred years, are things which our Lord narrates with as much particularity as if He saw them with His own eyes.

Foreknowledge like this is a special attribute of God. Of ourselves we “know not what a day may bring forth.” (Prov. 27:1.) To say what will happen to any city or kingdom in forty years from the present time, is far beyond the power of man. The words in Isaiah are very solemn–”I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” (Isa. 46:10.) He who could speak with authority of things to come, as our Lord did in this place, must have been very God as well as very man.

The true Christian should continually keep in mind this perfect knowledge of Christ. Past things, present things, and things to come, are all naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The recollection of the sins of youth may well make us humble. The sense of present weakness may make us anxious. The fear of trials yet to come may make our hearts faint. But it is a strong consolation to think that Christ knows all. For past, present, and future things we may safely trust Him. Nothing can ever happen to us that Christ has not known long ago.

What can 1 Chronicles 29 teach us about God?

Posted: July 12, 2011 by Pam Larson in 1 Chronicles, Devotionals/Commentaries, July
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John Piper on 1 Chronicles 29

1) “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness . . .” God is great. He is expansive. He is larger than any reality in the universe. When any little human greatness happens on the earth God means for your mind and heart to think about his magnitude and be more moved by him than by the little echo of his greatness that moves you here.

2) “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power . . .” God is powerful. All power belongs to God. He is not only big, he is strong. He is stronger than any atomic power like a hydrogen bomb, or any natural force like a hurricane or the ocean tides or an exploding star. He is not only great in size, but he can move that greatness to accomplish all he wills. He is very powerful.

3) “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory . . .” God is glorious. The word implies beauty and splendor. In other words, his greatness and power together are beautiful. They are not ugly. When we see God for who he is, our souls respond with tremendous satisfaction because we were made to behold glory. We were made to exult in infinite beauty. God is the source and essence of all great and powerful beauty—all glory.

4) “Thine, O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory . . .” God is victorious. The word means endurance—lasting and persisting and prevailing until all resistance is exhausted and God alone stands triumphant. God is always victor. He cannot be defeated.

5) “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty . . .” God is majestic. This means that he has the marks of royalty or kingliness. When he rides by, you take off your hat or you salute. You don’t slouch and you don’t swagger. You don’t joke and you don’t jest. You stand in awe, and tremble with joy that you have been granted to see and not die. God is majestic.

6) “Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth.” God owns all things. “Thine, O Lord, is . . . everything that is in the heavens and the earth.” God owns the world and everything in it. He owns your home and car and television. He owns your mind and emotions and will and your very life. He gave it freely as a trust, and he may take it whenever he pleases and do you no wrong. We are not our own. Nor is anything we possess our own. God owns all of it. We are only trustees—of life and thought and possessions. What a revolutionary truth this is—we need to ponder it far more often than we do.

7) “Thine is the dominion, O Lord.” In other words he not only has the splendor of royalty, he has the authority of royalty. He actually rules as king over the world. He owns all that is in the heavens and the earth and he governs what he owns—namely, everything. He has dominion—ruling authority as king over all. His kingly decrees always hold sway.

8) “Thine is the dominion, O LORD, and Thou dost exalt Thyself as head over all.” God is the head over all things, that is, the leader and final authority. But not just that: it says he makes himself known as head over all. God is not incidentally or accidentally over all. He chooses to be head over all. He exalts himself over all. His position in the universe is a position he chooses to keep, his reputation as head over all is something he wills to make known. That is what was happening in Israel when the collection was taken for the temple and when Bethlehem Freed the Future from debt. God was exalting himself as head over all. Not to see that is to miss the main thing that has been happening.

9) “Both riches and honor come from Thee . . .” Not only does God own all things and rule all things and exalt himself as head over all things, he also is the source of all riches and honor that come to any man or woman or child. This is a direct challenge to media assessment of the event. From a merely human standpoint the riches and honor came from inheritance or good stock markets or shrewd real estate deals or savings accounts or hard work. But David says, “No, riches come from God.” This is the invisible work of God in and under and behind our work. You can’t see it. You believe it and exult in it because you believe in God, not because you see it with your physical eyes. And this invisible reality is the main thing in our lives and in our church and in our world.

Spurgeon: It is not only that He was good, and will be good, but He IS good.

Posted: May 25, 2011 by Pam Larson in Devotionals/Commentaries, May, Psalms
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Psalm 118: Oh give thanks to the Lord……For he is good.

C. H Spurgeon comments:

This is reason enough for giving him thanks; goodness is his essence and nature, and therefore he is always to be praised whether we are receiving anything from him or not. Those who only praise God because he does them good should rise to a higher note and give thanks to him because he is good. In the truest sense he alone is good, “There is none good but one, that is God”; therefore in all gratitude the Lord should have the royal portion.

  • If others seem to be good, he is good.
  • If others are good in a measure, he is good beyond measure.
  • When others behave badly to us, it should only stir us up the more heartily to give thanks unto the Lord because he is good;
  • and when we ourselves are conscious that we are far from being good, we should only the more reverently bless him that “he is good.”

We must never tolerate an instant’s unbelief as to the goodness of the Lord; whatever else may be questionable, this is absolutely certain, that Jehovah is good; his dispensations may vary, but his nature is always the same, and always good. It is not only that he was good, and will be good, but he is good; let his providence be what it may. Therefore let us even at this present moment, though the skies be dark with clouds, yet give thanks unto his name.

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