365 Days with God - Day 68: Who Is God?

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 68, February 26, 2014

Readings: Psalm 68, Exodus 14, Ezra 4, Romans 5:12-21

Who is God? Many things have been written on that subject, but everything is speculation except what God says about himself. So what is that?

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
God settles the solitary in a home;
he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

O God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness,
the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
before God, the One of Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
you restored your inheritance as it languished;
your flock found a dwelling in it;
in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. (Psalm 68:5-10)

I love the description of who God is - so powerful, yet he intervenes for the powerless. He cares for the downtrodden and the oppressed. Nowhere does it mention that he does this for his own gain. How could he? What does he need from us? Nothing - and so he chooses to give everything.

And nowhere does it say he only cares for those who are religious or righteous. In fact, the poetry in this one sentence is something I find beautiful:

"Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad; you restored your inheritance as it languished; your flock found a dwelling in it; in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy."

I'm the needy one! God has poured out abundance on me, and everyone else who is in need of his loving grace. His mercy has been spread - and he has restored the whole of his inheritance. Not just the Jewish nation any longer, but all people. Jesus has redeemed everyone, Jew and Gentile - because we are all needy. God came for us, he serves us, he loves us. We are loved by the God of the universe, and he has given abundantly to us. He is amazing!