“Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.“
Psalm 147:1, 5
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This week, we consider that God is powerful.
What does this mean? Compared to our previous topics like “infinite” and “self-sufficient” it feels like this one should be easy. We know what the words power, powerful, and strength mean; we have these things ourselves. We know them when we see them.
And yet, when we apply these ideas to God, powerful becomes almost impossible to wrap our minds around.
At God-scale, powerful means having control over life and death—yet even those words are too small, for God is the author of life, the breath of life, the inventor of even the idea of reality and existence, the Alpha and the Omega, the foundation of everything.
At God-scale, powerful means having control over what is seen and what is unseen, in all times and all places—here and now, as well as the furthest corners of the vast universe (and in all infinite places of the multi-verse, if such a thing exists!).
At God-scale, powerful means that whatever God wills will ultimately be. And what does God will? We first glimpse this in the beginning of Genesis, and find echoes, confirmations, and reminders all throughout the Bible: God wants shalom. God wants a creation that is whole, where all can thrive in goodness with God and with each other.
To me, that feels like an impossible dream, harder to imagine even than God is powerful.
But this good news has been passed down for thousands of years: God, in His eternal, self-sufficient power, is saving the world He made and loves by building this very shalom.
Yes, it is good and fitting to praise the Lord!
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What do you think of when you hear the word “powerful”?
- What does this look like when we use it for God?
- To what end does God use His power?
- How can you spend time today praising God for His power?
Church Reading Plan: Isaiah 42; Revelation 12