God According to God

compassionate gracious slow to anger abounding in love and faithfulness maintaining love to thousands forgiving wickedness rebellion and sin does not leave the guilty unpunished

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A Study of Exodus 34:6-7

What one word correctly fills in the blanks in each sentence

• The bully was being __________ to his classmate.
• I know I said that, but I didn’t _____________ it.
• She wanted to know the average age of the people at the conference, so she calculated the ______________.

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• Answer: mean

What one word correctly fills in the blanks in each sentence

• The bathroom hadn’t been cleaned in weeks; it looked really _____________.
• A good measure of the economy is the ______________ domestic product.

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• Answer: gross

What one word correctly fills in the blanks in each sentence

• The _____________ got up to 60 mph.
• It’s close to bed time, so he started to _____________ down.

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• Answer: wind

A God for all stages

• The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7

Psalms of Orientation

• When everything is going well
• Praise God for things like creation, or God’s rule over earth
• Example: Psalms 8

Psalms of Disorientation

• When things are not going well
• Express sadness or fear
• Causes are either outside forces, God’s perceived apathy, or sin
• Example: Psalm 13

Psalms of New Orientation

• Praise God for bringing the writer out of the pit
• Look back on the disorientation and are thankful for better days
• Example: Psalm 27

Psalm 145

• What category of psalm does this seem to be?
• This psalm is full of generic praise for God. There are no specific acts named, but we get the impression that life is good and God is in control
• The psalm begins with a general call to praise (1-2).
• Then, the psalmist writes about the great deeds of the Lord being told from parents to children (3-7).

Psalm 145

• What do they tell? “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (8).
• Because of this, all creation will praise God (9-13a).
• God is trustworthy to provide for his creation’s needs (13b-16).
• God is faithful to those who cry out to him and who fear him (17-20).
• The writer calls on himself and “every creature” to praise the Lord’s name forever (21).

Psalms of Orientation

• What attributes of God named in Exodus 34:6-7 would be helpful to a person in this stage of life?

Psalms 86

• What category of psalm does this seem to be?
• The psalm begins with an address (“Lord”) and a petition: “Hear me…Guard my life…Save your servant…Bring joy to your servant…” (1-4).
• Next, the psalm moves to a confession of trust – an element not always found at this point in a lament psalm.
• Here is our theme verse: “You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call on you” (5).

Psalms 86

• This is followed by another petition: “Hear my prayer…Listen to my cry…” (6).
• The psalmist praises God for his rule over the world (8-10).
• The psalmist asks God to teach him so that he may praise God (11-13).
• Another key element is the complaint (i.e., what problem is motivating this writer to write this lament): “Arrogant foes are attacking me…Ruthless people are trying to kill me…” (14).

Psalms 86

• Here, again, is our theme verse – this time, in more exact form: “you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (15).
• The psalmist gives another petition: “Turn to me…have mercy on me…show your strength…save me…Give me a sign…” (16-17).
• What function does our theme verse play in this psalm?
• In the previous psalm, our theme verse was just an expression of general praise. Why say it now, when things are bad?
• What attributes of God named in our theme verse would be helpful to a person in this stage of life?

Psalms 103

• What category of psalm does this seem to be?
• The writer begins with general praise (1-2).
• Then, he moves to naming specific things for which God is praiseworthy (2-6).
• These are some specific “disorientations” for which God has provided a “new orientation”

Psalms 103

• What function does our theme verse play in this psalm? Are there specific acts of God that seem to be the evidence that he indeed is “gracious and compassionate…”?
• The psalm continues with praise for God.
• He forgives sins (9-12).
• He is compassionate (13-16).’
• He is faithful in keeping his covenant (17-18).
• He rules over all (19-22).

Psalms 103

• What is the message of this psalm?
• Why is our theme verse appropriate here?

Application

• Think about which stage if life you are in
• Orientation
• Disorientation
• New orientation

Stage - Orientation

• The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7
• If a person is in this stage, what would it mean to use our theme verse in prayer?

Stage - Disorientation

• The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7
• If a person is in this stage, what would it mean to use our theme verse in prayer?

Stage – New Orientation

• The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7
• If a person is in this stage, what would it mean to use our theme verse in prayer?

Closing

• Exodus 34:6-7 is for all circumstances
• God is at work in all circumstances of life
• God is at work in the good times and the bad
• This verse(s) means different things to people going through different stages of life.
• For the good times it can be a statement of praise!
• For the bad times it can be a faithful call to God
• In all times it is a statement of trust

Homework

• Work on memorizing Exodus 34:6-7
• Read Joel 2:1-17