Week 22 Psalms 146-150
Yesterday I searched through psalms 146-150 looking for qualities of the Lord. I found eight.
Today I dropped a couple off the list (they didn’t quite fit the bill…they seemed like action-qualities…doing as much as being). So I had six things that described the Lord:
great is our Lord (one psalm said surpassingly great)
he is mighty in power
his understanding has no limits
he reigns forever
his splendor is above the earth and the heavens
his name alone is exalted.
I tried streamlining the list – reducing the phrases to a single word. That worked at first. I shortened the first three to Great & Powerful & Brilliant. But the second three traits were too complex to describe in a single word (and for all I know I was just kidding myself with the first three). And I noticed that modifiers helped to make the point:
• How great is the Lord? Stupendously great
• How powerful? Powerfully powerful
• Limitlessly smart
• Permanently in-charge
• Incandescently above everyone & everything everywhere
• Peerlessly superior
But really the main point in these psalms isn’t to get the Lord’s qualities out on-the-table – even though that helps. The writer’s aim was to show what qualities the Lord could be praised for.
You’re the greatest
You’re the strongest
You’re the smartest
You always take care of things
You’re everywhere
You’re the very best.
Praise the Lord!
Note: quotes from Psalm 147:5 (& 150:2) 146:10 147:5 148:13 148:13 (NIV)