The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Psalm 145: 8

How would you describe God if God is beyond us? We cannot speak of God like an object which we can measure in height nor depth nor weight. People in the Bible speak of God in terms of attributes. It is either who God is not or who God is. Attributes give us a sense of the character of the God we believe in. The Psalmist reminds us of four attributes, the NRSV translators paired it by two’s gracious and merciful; slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The word compassionate is used in other translation for mercy. These are plain and simple yet powerful words, words that give comfort and assurance that the God we believe deals with us according to these attributes. Now imagine if we change these words to its opposite – God is harsh and hardhearted, quick to anger and poor in love. Now that’s scary and it implies that one false move from us would be the end of everything. The god opposite to God of the Psalmist has no room for forgiveness or second change. Like a tyrant who rules with an iron hand, in the presence of this god we walk in tiptoe and we speak with tight lips – we move around in fear.

The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. These are familiar words in our vocabulary and often times we just gloss it over when we read it in the Bible or let it pass through our ears quickly when we hear it. But words are not just plain letters arranged in a sequence to make it readable. Words carried in itself the power of what it describes. Through the words describing God’s attributes, we are confronted with the reality of God whose presence and power is around us all the time. Through these words we are also guided on how we respond properly to God who deals with us in grace and mercy, God whose anger is not quick and instant and whose love is steadfast and abundant.

Believing in the God that the Psalmist describes also leads us to another challenge – living out these attributes in the way we deal with others. If God deals with us in this manner, we also deal with others in the same way. We ought to be gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love because this is how God treated us. Jesus reminded us this principle in the prayer he taught us, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” There is no point asking for forgiveness from God if we ourselves cannot forgive others. If we are children of God, the God described by the Psalmist, then the attributes of God shall be seen in us. Maybe not in its full measure yet but slowly increasing towards those attributes as we mature in the faith and grow older. In a sense the old theory also applies in describing who we are, we can say; "describe to me the attributes of your God and I will tell you who you are."

Prayer

Thank you for the reminder of your attributes

that also shapes and defines who we are. Amen.

[Like a seed planted in the soil, it is our prayer that God's Word will grow in us as we nurture it in our hearts. Allow the seed to germinate. Your reflections and responses are welcome. Please click on the Add a new comment icon below.] Past Daily Devotions are archived at the bottom of the Sermons page.