“Father of the fatherless,
defender of widows;
God in his holy abode,
God gives a home to the forsaken,
who leads prisoners out to prosperity.”
Psalm 68:6-7 (NAB)
To adequately describe God, the most important word to precede any description of His attributes, is the word “so”. That two letter word modifies any verb or noun, by increasing their value and meaning.
In John 3:16, it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”
It doesn’t say that God loved, but that He “so” loved the world. Imagine the difference of how you would feel if you heard God say, “I love you” compared to hearing Him say,
“I love you so much.” Everyone would be more moved to hear that they are loved “somuch”.
God is the primary example and Lord of “so much.” Everything about His character can be described starting with the word “so.” He doesn’t just offer us mercy, but so much mercy. He forgives so much more than we deserve, because He loves us so much more than we can imagine. He doesn’t give in mediocrity, but He gives so much more than we would ever ask or expect. (Ephesians 3:20)
Here is how God described Himself to Moses long ago and He never changes :
“The Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.”
(Exodus 34:6-7)
As we read God’s own description of Himself, we can visualize the word “so” before every single trait. He is so merciful, so gracious, so slow to anger, and so forgiving of our sins. It doesn’t matter how far away someone strays, God does so much to bring us back home to Him. He has so much steadfast love for so many, while all of His judgements are perfectly just.
Some of the greatest leaders in scripture had big hearts and were an example of that “so much” quality of character, which comes from God.
God reveals Himself to us, through these leaders, whose hearts were full of love, mercy and grace.
When a crowd of angry rebels rose up against Moses, his reaction was always full of grace, and he prayed, more than once, pleading with God to forgive those rebellious people among him. (Numbers 14:19, Numbers 22:7, Exodus 32:12)
Moses prayed for his people, even though he was hated by some of them. Scripture described Moses as more humble than any man on earth.(Numbers 12:3)
Was he chosen to lead because of his humility, or did he became so humble after being in the Presence of God on Mount Sinai ? I lean more toward the latter reason, because there’s something life changing about God’s Holy Presence.
Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him and tried to kill him. They left him for dead, but Joseph survived, and after being sold as a slave, falsely accused, and spending years in jail, by a twist of fate, he was promoted to governor of Egypt. God led Joseph from prison to prosperity, as the scripture today describes. He had the power and authority to punish his brothers, but when finally reunited with them, his heart was only filled with love, mercy and forgiveness. Joseph, the son of Jacob, was a foreshadow of Jesus, the son of God.
Both Moses and Joseph were leaders who had Godlike qualities within them. They forgave those who wanted to kill them. They prayed for those who were angry with them. Moses made peace within his own congregation, and Joseph made peace with his own brothers and family. May God help us to do the same, and give us Spirit filled leaders like them today.
From the cross, Jesus said of His mockers and murderers, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” God’s grace is not ordinary, it’s extraordinary, which is what makes it “so” amazing. His amazing grace is not granted to us once every few decades, like the rare solar eclipse which takes place next week. The sun, moon and earth will be fully aligned in one rare event, but God’s love, mercy and forgiveness are always fully aligned and offered abundantly to all people, all of the time.
Today’s scripture is just another way of describing the God who “so” loved the world. He is so loving, a Father to the fatherless, and so mighty as a defender of widows. Out of so much mercy and love, He offers an eternal home to those who are forsaken in the world, and He leads prisoners out of bondage and into prosperity. If we learn anything today, it’s that God is “so” good and we are “so” blessed.
Lord, thank you for loving us so much, though we will never fully comprehend it. Thank you for your unlimited grace and mercy and your free gift of salvation to all who believe in you. Amen