Character of God

  • The Drama of Redemption

    Psalm 85:10

    Today’s passage contains the beautiful imagery of justice and peace (or mercy, as other translations put it) kissing each other. Our Father graciously restores peace between Himself and us in Christ Jesus. This peace is permanent, for it is ...Read More

  • The Primacy of God’s Glory

    Isaiah 48:1–11

    Dr. John Piper writes: “God’s own glory is uppermost in his own affections. In everything he does, his purpose is to preserve and display that glory. To say his glory is uppermost in his own affections means that he ...Read More

  • Cyrus, the Lord’s Anointed

    Isaiah 45:1–13

    It might be a clichè to say that we should “expect the unexpected.” Yet because God is fully sovereign, there is a real sense in which we should expect Him to act in ways we have not anticipated because His ...Read More

  • Waiting for the Lord to Save

    Isaiah 40:12–31

    As we will see in the weeks ahead, the delay in God’s redemption that the exiles felt was due in part to their continued sin. The Lord would have to intervene in a powerful way to make His people ...Read More

  • The Weakness of Men

    Isaiah 40:6–11

    One commentator describes the enduring message of today’s passage thusly: If I insist that I am permanent, I will fail. But if I confess God’s permanence—if I trust in His Word and believe it is sure—then ...Read More

  • The Lord of Grace, Mercy, and Justice

    Isaiah 30:18

    God must give us new hearts if we are to repent (Eph. 2:8–10). But once these hearts are ours, we must turn to Him for salvation both from His wrath and our enemies. He will deliver us if ...Read More

  • The Lord Spares Nineveh

    Jonah 3

    God’s Word always achieves the purpose for which it is ultimately intended (Isa. 55:10–11). Sometimes His promise of judgment prompts people to repent, as it did when Jonah preached it to Nineveh. Sometimes it makes people harden ...Read More

  • Salvation is of the LORD

    Jonah 1:17–2:10

    We bring nothing to the Lord when we come to Him for salvation. Even our faith, the instrument of our justification, is a gift from Him (Eph. 2:8–10). This is a great truth that we must tell ourselves ...Read More

  • Amos Prays and God Relents

    Amos 7:1–9

    The Lord has ordained all of history and “works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph. 1:11), so He knew that Amos would pray and that He would relent when He gave the visions of the ...Read More

  • The Limits of God’s Patience

    Amos 4

    John Calvin comments on today’s passage: “How little the pretense of good intention avails with God, which hypocrites ever bring forward.” The ancient Israelites thought that the Lord would be patient with their evil as long as they worshipped ...Read More

  • Knowing the Lord

    Jeremiah 9:23–24

    Many people today want to set holiness, love, and mercy in opposition to one another, especially when they speak of the character of God. Yet, it is only because the Lord is holy that we can be confident that He ...Read More

  • God’s Almighty Power

    Romans 8:31–32

    Dr. R.C. Sproul comments on today’s passage: “Paul is not suggesting that if God is for us, nobody will ever stand to oppose us. The import of his declaration is simple: all the human opposition that rises against ...Read More

  • The Goodness of Our Father

    Matthew 7:7–11

    Even the most compassionate earthly fathers are far less than our God. Matthew Henry writes, “All the compassions of all the tender fathers in the world compared with the tender mercies of our God, would be but as a candle ...Read More

  • God’s Furious Anger

    Psalm 7:11–13

    As Christians, we are privileged to be under the eternal mercy and grace of God, not His wrath. Like those who never repent, we do not deserve to escape His wrath, for we have nothing in ourselves to make us ...Read More

  • The Gifts God Gives

    James 1:12–18

    James focuses here on one excuse we may use to rationalize our sin. We are not only practiced sinners but practiced rationalizers. We do not hesitate to blame our environment or genetics or the sovereignty of God. Some even claim ...Read More