Descriptions of God

Good morning. Today’s scripture comes from Psalm 104:30 (NIV):

“When you send your Spirit,

they are created,

and you renew the face of the earth.”

The Psalms give several descriptions of God, which I’ll get to in a moment. Here, He is called a spirit (with a capital S, signifying His deity) that renews or changes us. Great things can happen to us when we are filled with the Spirit. In Acts 9:17, Saul is filled with the Holy Spirit after his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest new believers to the Way, but he, too, became a follower after the scales were removed from his eyes so he could see the truth. That’s what the Spirit does to us.

With each new situation in the Psalms, the writers gave different descriptions of God, revealing his character. Elsewhere in chapter 104, God is called creator (vs. 5). These various characteristics are what the Psalmists experienced first-hand so that we would know God better. As we read the Psalms, we should ask ourselves what God is revealing about himself that we need to understand.

Here’s a few of those characteristics listed in the Psalms: All-knowing and ever-present (Psalm 139); beautiful and desirable (27, 36, 45); creator (8, 104, 148); good and generous (34, 81, 107); great and sovereign (33, 89, 96); holy (66, 99, 145); loving and faithful (23, 42, 51); merciful and forgiving (32, 111, 130); powerful (76, 89, 93); willing to reveal his will, law and direction (1, 19, 119); righteous and just (71, 97, 113); and Spirit (104, 139, 143). Psalm 103:8 says He is slow to anger, giving us a chance to seek his compassion and grace before it is too late. He gives us chances we don’t deserve because He loves us.

God reveals His character to us, because he wants to be known, and His word tells us what we need to know about him. Because He is described as good, He cannot also be evil. Because He is just, He cannot also be unjust. Because He is merciful, He cannot be unmerciful. Because He is all-knowing, ever-present and all-powerful, He cannot be limited in scope. The various descriptions of God tell us how He acts in different situations we face. We can count on those characteristics being revealed, because God is also the truth (25:5) and His Word cannot lie to us.

How does this apply to my life?

Today’s prayer: Lord, reveal to me who you are today. I pray that throughout my day, I keep my eyes open to who you are. Amen