Scripture: Psalm 145:8 (ESV) The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
Devotion: This week, we have taken a look at the very nature of who God is so that we can praise Him for it. Because God is who He is and is the perfect and full embodiment of each of these attributes, it can be hard to talk about one without drawing from another. Perhaps the most difficult to segment out are the ones that are mentioned in our verse today. “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 145:8 ESV, emphasis added).
As we have worked through each day, the common thread has been His grace, mercy, and love. He is no more or less full of each of these attributes than any other that we talked about. He is no more or less full of grace than He is of justice. He is no more or less full of mercy than He is power. He is no more or less full of love than He is of knowledge. But in our humanity, some of these attributes are harder to understand.
It can be difficult to truly wrap our head around what it means for God to hold all of the power, be present everywhere, and know everything. But when our minds start to wander, questioning what He does with each of those attributes, His grace, mercy, and love remind us that we can trust Him with it. In fact, we can find great comfort in all of it.
His very nature is both the tender, forgiving Father and the just, powerful God. Because of this, we can trust God with the outcomes and praise Him no matter what happens in our lives and in this world. He is working it all for His glory and our good.
Reflect:
- Which of God’s attributes that we talked about this week most intrigues you? Confuses you?
- Which of His attributes leads you to a deeper understanding of who He is?