Wednesday: Praise to the Majestic and Merciful God
Daily Lesson for Wednesday 14th of February 2024
Read Psalms 113:1-9 and Psalms 123:1-4. What two different aspects of God’s character are depicted in these psalms?
Psalms 113:1-9 and Psalms 123:1-4 praise both the majesty and mercy of the Lord. The Lord’s majesty is revealed in the greatness of His name and in the exalted place of His throne, which is above all nations and above the heavens (Psalms 113:4-5; Psalms 123:1). “Who is like the Lord our God” (Psalms 113:5, NKJV) is a statement of faith that no power within or outside of the world can challenge the God of Israel.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
The unapproachable heights where the Lord dwells are illustrated through the fact that the Lord is willing to “humble Himself” or “stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth” (see Psalms 113:6, NIV; emphasis supplied). God’s abiding on high does not prevent Him from seeing what is occurring here below. The Lord’s mercy is manifested in His gracious readiness to be involved with the world and to save the needy and poor from their troubles. His generous hand is obviously not hidden from His servants though His dwelling place is in the distant heavens.
God’s greatness and care, which cannot be fully discerned in God’s amazing transcendence, becomes explicit in God’s deeds of mercy and compassion. The needy, the poor, and the oppressed might experience firsthand God’s sovereign power in the remarkable reversals that He can perform in their favor. The exalted God manifests His greatness by using His power to exalt the downcast. The people are free to approach the Lord because His sovereign majesty and supremacy do not change the fact that He is their gracious Creator and Sustainer and that the people are His servants, His beloved children.
Worship is, thus, motivated, not only by God’s magnificence but also by His goodness. Praise is not limited by time and space (Psalms 113:2-3). God’s greatness and mercy are best manifested in Jesus Christ, who was willing to stoop down from heaven and be brought as low as death on the cross in order to lift up fallen humanity (Philippians 2:6-8). Here, in the Cross, we have the greatest reasons possible to worship and praise God for what He had done for us.
Dwell on the Cross and what happened there for you personally. What has Jesus saved you from? Why is it so important to keep the Cross foremost in your mind?
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When I first started studying physics it was mostly about fairly mundane stuff like forces and motion, optics, heat, electricity, and magnetism. This is what is known as classical physics. But, towards the end of my years as an undergraduate student, we were exposed to the challenge of new physics. We had to get our heads around quantum and cosmological physics. It was a paradigm shift for students in our time. Admittedly some of these ideas were being developed a couple of decades earlier but it had taken than long for educationalists to consider it important enough to be added to the curriculum.
These new ideas were a challenge and the really big idea for me was the fact that both the cosmological and the quantum branches were linked. In other words, you have a better understanding of cosmology if you understand quantum physics.
Majesty and mercy can be considered as the cosmology and quantum theory views of our spiritual relationship with God. On the one hand, we see his greatness and power and on the other hand, we see God's interest and love for us. Majesty and mercy! Understand the mercy and you appreciate the Majesty.
Here is my personal challenge. I have had to come to terms with the transition from classical physics to the new physics in my scientific life. I wonder if my spiritual life has had to make a similar transition. Am I stuck with a classical view of God, or have I embraced the new "majesty and mercy" view in a way that empowers my spiritual life?
And just to be sure that we see this the right way around: New physics did not replace classical physics. It expanded it.
Thank you Maurice. The revelation of Quantum Physics resulted a state of unrest among physicists/astronomers. It shook their concept of what they thought they knew about the universe and trying to explain its very existence. They are left with the Multi-Universe theory; Our universe is not the only one. There may be parallel universes and a universe may spawn other "Baby universes". Just recently, Astronomers were expecting to see with the new telescope that was activated last year, small newly forming galaxies beyond what they had been able to see before but low and behold, they were speechless when the telescope showed them vast galaxies, bigger than anything they had seen before. This all lends even more support to the book I have mentioned before, Stephen Meyer's, "Return of the God Hypothesis". There is no other rational explanation than a Creator God....
It may be that our own concept of God is too limited. Some of us are working with a “God model” that does not survive in the 21st century. There is a mystery of godliness that goes beyond the “explanation of everything” that we should appreciate.
Maurice – You say that you wonder ‘if’ your spiritual life has had to make a similar transition’ from the 'old' to the 'new'. I venture to say - yes!
All of us coming to Jesus Christ come to Him as immature babes to be taught and guided by the Holy Spirit to mature spiritually as well as in our characters.
I am happy to read the question you posed in your last paragraph about whether you are stuck with a classical view of God, or if you have already or possibly want to embrace the new “majesty and mercy” view in a way that empowers your spiritual life!
I wish you well as you seek to 'understand God's mercy in order to appreciate His Majesty!' God's blessings will accompany you on this exiting spiritual journey!
I've heard Psalm 8 called the "majesty psalm". Here it is:
It talks about the jaw-dropping bigness and beauty, detail and dependability of nature....something that unbelievers can see too. Huge spaces like the night sky, with the zillions of stars and planets, that stir up in many or most a feeling of smallness. Majesty.
Psalm 8 also talks about God's attitude to us humans. So much mercy and honor. Making us in His image, to be rulers over a domain, as He is ruler over all....even though we are so small and weak. In fact, He has chosen the smallest and weakest and least majestic ones, the people we would least expect, for the biggest leadership roles. He chooses those who are considered nothing to the world to make Himself known, to glorify Himself and to accomplish His will (1 Cor. 1:26-29).
God Himself became a human....there is no better example of majesty imploded, or collapsed, down dramatically into a speck. A forever-changed and marked, for our sake, divine speck called Jesus. God became weak for us (Heb. 4:14; 5:2,7-10; Is. 53:2). And in that weakened state Jesus glorified God's majesty (Luke 9:43-44 ESV; 2 Pet. 1:16-17).
This hits home for me today. False labels and shunning treatment by my loved ones hurts me very much. Even though Jesus warned of this (Matt. 5:11-13), it still wounds me. So, the fact that such a huge and majestic God can also treat me with so much honor and respect and listening and trust and responsibility and understanding and wanting me and sticking-His-neck-out for me, so much grace towards me and gentleness and faithfulness.... I don't have words enough to say thank you...
Another psalm, Psalm 138:6 says: "For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly"... He bends so low to rescue and comfort. Heb. 2:8-10 shows Jesus as the most majestic and merciful picture of God we will ever know.
We love you Esther! Your comments are beautiful.
God is so kind and patient. Thank you, sweet Sister in Jesus!