Psalm 86 "What is God like?"

Psalm for Today = 86:9-10, 15

“All the nations you have made shall come

    and worship before you, O Lord,

    and shall glorify your name.

For you are great and do wondrous things;

    you alone are God…

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

    slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

 

Comment:

Photo by Nathan Dumlao
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Which nations? (v.9)  [All] God made all the nations, not just one. We should beware of the trap of elevating one over all the others. In addition, the church is comprised of believers from all nations, not just one.

Why? (v.10)  [You are great, You do wondrous things, You alone are God...] We serve a God who is outward-focused, giving of himself to his people.

What is the God of the Old Testament like? (v.15) This saying is repeated often in the Old Testament, and I can’t ever pass it up. I need to be reminded of the relational character of God for several reasons: 

• The devil would have us believe that God is “keeping us down” (Gen. 3) with his commands because he doesn't want us to be all that we can be. 
• The world would have us believe that God is an angry, arbitrary, anachronistic authority (whoa, my pastoral alliteration button got stuck); and 
• I might begin to think that I can relate to others in a grouchy, judgmental way unless I am reminded of how God relates to us. 

Here are five relational aspects of God found in verse 15 that we can memorize on the five fingers of one hand. God is...

1. Merciful, 
2. Gracious, 
3. Slow to anger, 
4. Abounding in steadfast love, 
5. Abounding in faithfulness.

Is this how we think of him? It should be.