Because He Is

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped. (Exodus 34:5-8)

He is the LORD God. He is self-existent and eternal. He always has been, and He always will be. He depends upon no one for His being. He is the One Who is in control, the only true God.

Because He is the LORD God…

I can trust today, as well as the future, to Him. He is dependable; He will never fail or be unseated from His position as God. He sees what is coming, and my God is in complete control of that future. He is the LORD God.

He is merciful and gracious. He is compassionate towards us in a way that only He as God can be. No human has ever had compassion like Him. It never fails, and it is far-reaching, even to the most unlovable. The Lord is benevolent to those who are by far His inferiors (all of us).  His mercy and grace are so clearly pictured in salvation.

Because He is merciful and gracious…

I can expect and trust His kindness and compassion in the difficult times. This is not because of who I am, but because He chooses to show this love to me! No trial is too great, no failure is so final, that His mercy and grace are not available to me. He is merciful and gracious.

He is longsuffering. Our God is slow to anger. What a thought! We as humans tend to have little patience for the failures of others, particularly when they wrong us. Yet the One Who we have wronged infinitely more is slow to anger. He is patient with our stumbling, though we fail again and again.

Because He is longsuffering…

I can depend upon His patience, and not His anger, when I fall. This is never an excuse – how can we continue willfully sinning against Him, when He suffers long with us? Yet, it should keep us from discouragement and depression when we realize that our wonderful God bears long with us! He is longsuffering.

He is abundant in goodness and in truth. The Lord has exceedingly much kindness and favor toward us. He zealously seeks our best. He is also exceedingly faithful and righteous, never doing anything contrary to His character. We can depend upon the certainty of His truth never changing.

Because He is abundant in goodness and in truth…

I can come to Him in difficulty to find more than enough favor, help, sympathy, and direction for the right way to walk. It is assured that the Lord will give me what is best and what is right. He is abundant in goodness and in truth.

He keeps mercy for thousands and forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin. No person is excluded from the Lord’s offer of mercy. It is available for any and all. He pardons our wickedness, our rebellion, our mistakes and failures. He not only pardons them, but He also cleanses us from them, delivering us from the power that they have exercised in our lives.

Because He keeps mercy and forgives iniquity and transgression and sin…

I am assured that when I confess my iniquities, transgressions, and sins, He hears and forgives them – not of my merits, but because of His great mercy, by the blood of Jesus Christ. He keeps mercy and forgives iniquity and transgression and sin.

He will by no means clear the guilty. He is the Judge of all the earth and will do right. Our God will judge sin, in accordance to His holiness and righteousness. It is only those who choose to reject Him that will be judged, and there is surety in the fact that our God will be faithful to Who He is.

Because He will by no means clear the guilty…

I can know that He is true to His nature. He will not change, and I can depend on Him doing what He says He will do. I do not have to be judged for sin though; the Lord has provided the way through His mercy and forgiveness. He will by no means clear the guilty.

Because He is…

my response should be one of worship. The great God condescends to reveal Himself to us through His Word; we are unworthy, yet He wants to have a relationship with us! He is not a God afar off, but He is a God Who wants us to know Him. As you go through your week and face difficulty, trial, or temptation, think of Him Who is all you need Him to be today!