"The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love." Psalm 145:8
I have shared recently in a sermon that the 'glory of God' is the sum total of His character. Actually I am incapable of describing, listing or even approaching an explanation of what that is. His glory is too great!! God is so beyond perfect that He defies description, definition and explanation. In this verse are two of His myriad attributes that give Him the capacity to exhibit two more. The Lord is gracious, He exudes grace. He is the embodiment of grace, the very definition of grace. He is also compassionate, as the song "Great Is Thy Faithfulness” reminds us, "His compassions they fail not, As Thou hast been Thou forever shalt be." He changes not. Always gracious, always compassionate.
He created the world as an expression of His glory. He created mankind as an expression of His character. Because He is gracious and compassionate He therefore is slow to anger and rich in love. We can learn something here. If we are quick to anger, we have issues with graciousness and compassion. Think about it. It is so non-gracious to be hotheaded or to fly off the handle. It is the absolute perfect outgrowth of grace and compassion to be rich in love. Not just to love, but to love exorbitantly. Wow, isn't they Bible creatively illustrative? If you love just enough to get by or if you pay lip service to loving, you probably have issues with graciousness and compassion.
If we indeed are gracious and compassionate we subsequently must love richly and be slow to anger. Think about it again. When I really care, I don't lash out. When I am kind, I lavish love on people. Recently, my character has been challenged as I grow frustrated with the predicaments that people get themselves into. For me, the first thing to go are my thoughts, which left unchecked are followed by my attitude and, left unchecked will lead to words and if left unchecked, will be taken to actions. A dangerous progression. All able to be checked at any point by graciousness and compassion. If I can just see people like Jesus sees them it really keeps things in check.
It is so simple to be rich in love when I see people like Jesus sees them too. I want to love so much more when I look at people the way Jesus knows them and their predicaments. I hope that this devotional today catches someone at a point in their life when they know they should deal with their non-graciousness or dis-compassion evidenced by a difficulty in controlling anger or loving poorly. These kinds of self reflections are not easy, but the Word of God is a mirror and when we reflect on the Lord and His character, His glory and His truth, often we must deal with what He shows us. I am sure the Lord will be gracious and compassionate with us, slow to anger and rich in love, so let's be real.
Really His,
Pastor Fred
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Pastor - your progression here is classic logic and was quite convicting! A beautiful picture of how God is, and how we so often come up short. Thanks for your heart, your ability to really think these scriptures through, and the talent to put it into words that knuckleheads like me will be able to understand. It was a loving scolding for me, and a great lesson.
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