Today’s readings are about mercy and majesty, two perfect descriptors of our perfect God. He is indeed merciful, and He is the King. But toward the end of this book about suffering, these two truths stand on trial. God has yet to show mercy to Job. If He is King, and sovereign, and has dominion over everything, why has His faithful servant suffered so much?
Like God Himself, weather is unpredictable, wild, and powerful. So when Elihu describes the power of God, he talks about the weather. “He says to the snow, ‘fall to the earth,’” and “Ice is formed by the breath of God,” and “He saturates clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them.” The wild, untamable weather that, despite our most advanced radar and predictions, never does what we think it will—this weather is controlled by God, a testament to His sovereignty and majesty.
I write this while most of the United States is gripped by deadly freezing temperatures, the lowest in a generation. I write this after seeing our local weather-people get utterly destroyed on Twitter because they missed a forecast for snow. And always, their defense is simply this: weather is WEATHER. It is, by its very nature, impossible to control. We can read the radar, the charts, the signs, but at the end of the day, weather does what weather wants. Or rather, weather does what God wants.
But God’s majesty does have boundaries, lines drawn by His character and His goodness. In 37:13 we read, “He causes this to happen for punishment, for his land, or for his faithful love” (emphasis added). In verse 23, we are told, “The Almighty—we cannot reach him—he is exalted in power! He will not violate justice and abundant righteousness.” God may be utterly other, higher than anything we can fathom, but He has bound Himself by His character. And His character, proclaimed by Elihu and written throughout the Scriptures, is steadfast and faithful love, justice, and abundant righteousness.
The answer to the question, Can we trust God in our suffering? is yes, because of His abundant righteousness. Yes, because of His perfect will and His unbreakable commitment to His people, to us.
The psalmist wrote:
I wait for the LORD; I wait
and put my hope in his word.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning—
more than watchmen for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord.
For there is faithful love with the LORD,
and with him is redemption in abundance (Psalm 130:5–7).
We can wait, and we can hope, even in the deepest suffering, because there is faithful love and redemption in abundance in the arms of our good Father.
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35 thoughts on "The Mercy and Majesty of God"
I can Trust and Believe and therefore be obedient and confident in this season. There is newness happening! God mold me….
I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help my help comes from the lord.
One of my favourite blessings/ reminders of God is how he paints the sunsets. Where I live, sunsets are often stunning and prolonged. And they help me praise God for His beautiful brushwork across the sky. A little love letter to us, a reminder of who He is and what He can do.
We hear it said over and over about Mother Nature being responsible for weather, etc., when as believers we know it is truly Father God who is control of all the Earth…weather, pollen (achoo, excuse me), etc. Thank you, Father God.
I’ve been reading through the Chronicles of Narnia with my young daughters over the course of this school year, and they say of Aslan, “he’s not a tame lion, but he is good.” It’s a sentiment that brings tears to my eyes every time because I see the correlation to God’s character right there. He may seem unpredictable at times because we as humans have our own limitations of understanding, but his character is always trustworthy because he is good.
I have never viewed God as “wild” but I see now that that is a great addition to my understanding of Him. He is not an executive who has a long-term strategy in place. He is an almighty, wild and powerful Being who is beyond understanding and yet makes Himself knowable to us.
Amen and thank you for this study. I love that at the end of it all there are other children and gifts abundant. ❤️
Several things stood out to me in today’s readings: “Indeed, he lured you from the jaws of distress to a spacious and unconfined place. Your table was spread with choice food.” (Job 36:16-17); “Listen to this, Job. Stop and consider God’s wonders.” (Job 37:14); “But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me– that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord’s declaration.” (Jeremiah 9:34). That last verse in particular reminded me of the hymn “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.” I love that in the midst of this suffering and pain, we’re called to turn and remember God’s wonders, his majesty and bigness.
When contemplating how powerful God is and how everything is dependent on Him, I’m reminded of Psalm 104. I remember reading and rereading this and thinking how amazing He is. Please take the time to read and be amazed at how awesome He is.
The answer to the question…
Can we trust God in our suffering? is yes. YES. YES because of His abundant righteousness. Yes, because of His perfect will and His unbreakable commitment to His people, to us.
SO very thankful that I am among the number that God calls His people.. So very thankful that His commitment to me, to us, is unbreakable.. So so very thankful that, though in the struggle, the testing, the heartache it may seem like I have been abandoned, God’s will for my life is and will always be perfect..
He, God gives me hope, He gives me HOPE with capitals and more.. whatever His plan for my life, it is good.. He is God, steadfast and sure.. always…
Amen.
Blessed today all..xx
“God’s will for my life is and always will be perfect”. Thanks for this reminder Tina!
God is so good!!!! ❤️❤️
Amen, Amanda! Always!!
Romans 5:20-21 The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The year I turned 30, I thought I was pregnant, and I was so excited. I went to the doctor only to find I wasn’t pregnant, something was not right with my heart. I was thrown into a gamut of tests, and told to eliminate all stress. (I remember thinking eliminating stress was going to be pretty hard with news like that.)That very difficult time, turned out to be the best time of my life. There were several months of testing, fear, and stress. Doing a face-plant on the cement of possible death, I realized God had been a trophy on my shelf. I “allowed Him” access to my life as needed but, He was not the Lord of my life. This wasn’t something I did knowingly. When I faced possible eternity, God’s grace came near, and showed me my heart. That was when I surrendered. That was when I knew I could and would trust Him, no matter what. My sin had been paid for and God’s grace was multiplied to me. I knew I could trust Him with the lives of those I loved after I was gone and that my future would be with Him.
Job 36:11 If they listen and serve him, they will end their days in prosperity and their years in happiness.
Job 37:14 Listen to this, Job. Stop and consider God’s wonders.
Jeremiah 9:24 But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me-that I am the Lord, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things. This is the Lord’s declaration.”
Things changed after that experience. The God of faithful love, justice, and righteousness gave me additional years to listen and learn from Him, to serve, and to consider His mighty wonders. He gave me eyes to see Him and ears to hear. His plan wasn’t finished for me yet.
Sisters in Christ, I write down your requests from the SRT page and pray for you, thankful for the opportunity to bring you before the Father. He is Love. He loves us. May we live lives that stand strong in celebration of our Savior and Lord, arms lifted high, praise on our lips. In our times of suffering may we lean-in to His arms. When we don’t understand and cannot stand any longer, may we kneel. His arms alone offer mercy, grace, comfort, and intimate-pure love. We are never alone when we are His.
Beautiful testimony thank you for sharing your story with us and for your prayers
Thank you for your story. It has sharpened my prayers. May the Lord richly bless you.
God bless you so much x
Our God is so good and so wise-He knows us even better than we know ourselves:
Romans 8:28 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
Thank you for sharing! Praying for you! God is great!!!
“I am counting on the Lord … I have put my hope in his word. I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn … Hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows” (Psalm 130:5-7). This is the cry of one who clings to hope in God when no other hope remains. He is truly desperate for God. He cries out to God, but remains confident in the character of God. He calls others to hope in God because there is unfailing love. God’s faithful love reaches everywhere and gives strength and hope in every situation!
I’m overwhelmed by how God orchestrates the tiny details of my life as I have been overwhelmed in the mire of anxiety and depression. His faithful, steadfast love in consistent, even when my thoughts are all eschew. Day by day, I can press on knowing God cares about my thoughts and helps me take them captive so they don’t spiral out of control. That God is so personal and involved, yet at the same time “The Almighty – we cannot reach him – he is exalted in power!” Job 37:23. So much to wrap my brain around – so instead, I will just be still in His presence. ❤️
Should be …Can God really be described as wild.
I do not believe the Bible points to “wild” as being a characteristic of God. The definition of wild is “lacking discipline or restraint.” Maybe from a human perspective some of the things He does look “wild” to us, but in reality, God is not a God of chaos or disorder and His ways are absolutely perfect and planned. So though seemingly wild or unpredictable to us, He has a plan and His holy and perfect wisdom is beyond human understanding. His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He knows the past, the present and the future. There is no surprise for Him. He is not wild, He is simply much, much greater and higher than we.
Can Go really be described as wild? I don’t find this attribute in my Bible.
I love this passage as Elihu speaks and says to Job, “Listen to this. Stop and consider God’s wonders.” He lists the wonders of the weather and creation that shout the sovereignty of God.
I’m a bit of a weather geek. Before I get going on my day, I must know what the weather holds. I want to be prepared, which is not easy in the spring. It could be 80 degrees or 40 all in less than 24 hours.
Much more importantly, I must prepare my heart and hope for both the sunshine and the turbulence of the storms.
I have been through many dark days. At one time, our family used to joke that we would read Job for encouragement because we had suffered such tremendous loss and pain…but Job had it worse…therefore, we could make it.
I have found, as Melanie Rainer wrote today, that yes, our God can be trusted, even in suffering, because of His faithful love, abundant grace and constant mercy.
Thank you for your words. So encouraging and true!
This past weekend my husband and I went camping in the Georgia mountains to celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary. We were surrounded by God’s magnificence and in awe of His creations. On our last night, a powerful storm came through with wind and rain, thunder and lightening, and we could literally feel God’s amazing majesty. While we can somewhat scientifically explain these things, we KNOW that the TRUTH: GOD is the creator of all things…and HIS grace and mercy abound for me anew every day. Thank you LORD, for every magnificent detail in YOUR creation and for YOUR amazing grace for me.
What struck out to me this morning is how even in Job’s day they understood the scientific nature of weather (drawing up drops of water to rain down on streams, etc) and they attributed it all to God, as it should be. In my eyes, God and science are hand in hand. I only wish more “science” people would admit that. ❤️
I totally agree! The incredible things scientists find about how the world around us is structured only point me to God as the Creator and Designer of our world. God is an Artist.
Amen Alexis.
God answers to no one but Himself. Sometimes He’s hard to understand. But He loves me. He is good to me. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
♥️
Thankful! While He can do anything, in His love, He limits Himself. He does so that we can know Him…that is amazing!
❤️
Steadfast love. This is what I think of when I think of my Heavenly Father … so utterly grateful.
Overwhelmed by the majesty and mercy of God. May it always be so. Amen.