Meditating on Who God Is

How would you describe Father God?

David, the shepherd boy who became King, beautifully describes our heavenly Father with key words and analogies to help us grasp His nature. Meditating on the meaning of this Psalm will help us know God even better as well as to set our hearts and minds on spiritual matters.

“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
    your justice like the great deep.
    You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
    People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
    you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light.” (Psalm 36:5-9 New International Version)

Consider these characteristics of God in the Psalm.

Love – In the beginning of this passage, the Hebrew word “love” refers to His “goodness, kindness.”¹ 1 John 4:16 describes God by saying He IS love. Is there a more beautiful truth than this?

Faithfulness – Here King David refers to God’s “firmness, steadfastness, fidelity.”² How blessed we are that our heavenly Father is faithful to His Word, which means He is faithful to each and every one of His promises.

Righteousness – Barnes Notes on the Whole Bible explains the meaning as “. . . the justice of God considered as residing in his own nature; his justice in his laws; his justice in his providential dealings; his justice in his plan of delivering man from sin; his justice to the universe in administering the rewards and penalties of the law.”³ Because our God is a just God, we can trust Him completely.

Unfailing Love – God’s “goodness and kindness”⁴ is described as “precious, rare, splendid, weighty.”⁵ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Refuge – Hope and trust are bound up in this concept.⁶ We can fully trust in God. Here is a link to 100 verses about trusting in the Lord.

Abundance – We can choose to focus on the things of this world or spiritual matters. Consider Jesus’ teaching in John 6:32-35 about His being the “bread of life.” Not only does God give us blessings for our physical life, but He satisfies our deepest spiritual needs.

Light – Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12). He shows us the way to the Father.

Meditating on the characteristics of God helps us set our hearts and minds on spiritual matters, rather than worldly matters. May God be glorified!

-Jo Umberger, Vice President, NewLife Behavior International NLBI.net | NLBIministry@gmail.com

References

¹Bible Hub. “Psalm 36:5.” Strong’s Concordance Hebrew #2617. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2617.htm

²Bible Hub. “Psalm 36:5.” Strong’s Concordance Hebrew #530. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/530.htm

³Barnes, Albert. “Commentary on Psalms 36:6”. Barnes Notes Psalm 36:6. Accessed April 10, 2023. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/psalms/36.htm

⁴Bible Hub. “Psalm 36:7.” Strong’s Concordance Hebrew #2617. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2617.htm

⁵Bible Hub. “Psalm 36:7.” Strong’s Concordance Hebrew #3368. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3368.htm

⁶Bible Hub. “Psalm 36:7” NAS Exhaustive Concordance Hebrew #2620. Accessed April 10, 2023. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2620.htm

-Jo Umberger, Vice President, NewLife Behavior International NLBI.net | NLBIministry@gmail.com