Thursday, July 1, 2021

What is God Like?

 

Wednesday, July 1, 2021

How great is the Lord, how deserving of praise, in the city of our God, which sits on his holy mountain!  It is high and magnificent; the whole earth rejoices to see it!  Mount Zion, the holy mountain, is the city of the great King!  God himself is in Jerusalem’s towers, revealing himself as its defender.  The kings of the earth joined forces and advanced against the city.  But when they saw it, they were stunned; they were terrified and ran away.  They were gripped with terror and writhed in pain like a woman in labor.  You destroyed them like the mighty ships of Tarshish shattered by a powerful east wind.  We had heard of the city’s glory, but now we have seen it ourselves—the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.  It is the city of our God; he will make it safe forever.   Interlude
O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple.  As your name deserves, O God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth.  Your strong right hand is filled with victory.  Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice.  Let all the towns of Judah be glad because of your justice.  Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem.  Walk around and count the many towers.  Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels, that you may describe them to future generations.  For that is what God is like.  He is our God forever and ever, and he will guide us until we die.  Psalm 48:1-14

Throughout Scripture we find the principle of free will, the right God has placed within each soul to decide the course our life will take.  The desire for the exercise of this freedom is self-evident.  If you need a chapter and verse proof text, note what Joshua said to the Israelites on the eve of entering into the Promised Land:

…choose today whom you will serve.  Joshua 24:15b

The nation of former slaves was at least hundreds of thousands strong, perhaps, according to some scholars, several million.  Joshua offered that challenge of life’s most important question, what God will you serve? 

On a personal level, to find the answer within my heart and soul for that question, I had to ask another question, who is God (JHWH, Jesus)…what is he like? 

The answer to both questions is nestled into today’s text; you cannot see Him, but you can begin to understand what he is like.  God is like the towers and walls of the citadel, Jerusalem, God’s own city.  Those walls and towers are protection for the people within, and an impenetrable fortress to those who would even think to assail her.  But, before this metaphor of walls describing God is carried too far, leaving us to imagine God as an impassable monolith, just standing as another idol, lifeless, vast, but unthinking, move beyond the comparison and look at the evidence – personal evidence.  God entered time and space from above and outside time and space.  The Creator entered His own creation and became flesh, blood, and bone…and it was too much for us to live in His presence.  The creation crucified our Creator.  So he rose from the grave and offers us a second chance.

What is God like?  He is all the vast power of the universe and beyond.  As the genius of Michelangelo was more than his paintings or sculptures, the creation is always so much less than the Creator.  This is why the Psalmist began his musical ode to the God of Jerusalem’s towers with extolling the worthiness of God to receive praise and honor.

For You Today

Our Creator is beyond comprehension, but not beyond inviting us into His presence. Like Joshua’s challenge to the Israelites as they took the next step in their journey to choose today the God you will serve, that offer to come inside the walls of Mount Zion with our hearts, souls, and eternal lives still stands before each of us.  We recognize what God is like.  But with that understanding God leaves us choice of whether we will serve him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. 

In a few days we will celebrate our independence in America.  It is a sacred gift and responsibility.  We choose to live with and serve our fellow Americans.  But how much greater the other choice – to serve the God of all freedom.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!   

[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

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