THE CHARACTER OF GOD – PART THREE

From The Heart

Publish date: 12/13/2015

But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.

Psalms 86:15 KJV

Our Father God is:

1. Full of compassion:

Psalms 111:4 KJV – “He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.”
Psalms 112:4 KJV – “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.”
Psalms 145:8 KJV – “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.”
Compassion: “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” Compassion feels the suffering and moves to do something about it.
Compassion saves and redeems:
Matthew 9:36 KJV – “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”
Compassion heals and delivers:
Matthew 14:14 KJV – “And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.”
Matthew 20:34 KJV – “So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.”
Compassion feeds and provides:
Matthew 15:32 KJV – “Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.”

2. Gracious and Merciful:

Psalms 103:8 KJV – “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
Psalms 116:5 KJV – “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.”
Exodus 22:27b KJV – “…and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.”
Exodus 33:19 KJV – “…I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”
When you turn to God in repentance, you will be met with His compassion.
2 Chronicles 30:9 KJV
It’s because of God’s compassion and graciousness that many are not destroyed in their sinful state. He did not abandon them, even though they abandoned Him. Because of His graciousness, He does not snub us or turn us away when we humble ourselves and turn to Him for help.
Nehemiah 9:17
Nehemiah 9:31
Jonah 3:1-10 and 4:1-2 – God forgives Nineveh.
Joel 2:12-13 KJV – Rend your heart, and not your garments - He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.
1 Peter 2:2-3 – You have tasted that the Lord is gracious – desire His Word.

3. Longsuffering:

Longsuffering: long and patient endurance of injury, trouble, or provocation.
Numbers 14:18 KJV – “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.”
The Lord is longsuffering, merciful and forgiving, but He cannot forgive those who will not repent.
Romans 2:4 KJV – “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?”
God is patiently good to us as He waits for us to turn to Him in repentance.
1 Timothy 1:15-16 KJV – Paul is an example of the longsuffering of Jesus.
1 Peter 3:19-20 KJV – God waited patiently for one hundred years for Noah’s generation to repent.

4. Plenteous in mercy:

Mercy: kindness; beauty; favor; pity.
Psalms 103:8-11 KJV – “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. 9 He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”
Exodus 20:6 KJV – “And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
Exodus 34:6-7
Titus 3:5-7 – According to His mercy, He saved us.
Jude 21 KJV – “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”

5. Plenteous in truth:

Psalms 85:10 KJV – “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”
Here we have four attributes of God - mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace - working in harmony to bring salvation to those who fear God.
God’s Truth is sent forth to make known to all the will of God.
Righteousness expects and demands obedience to the Truth.
Mercy forgives man of all sin.
This forgiveness and righteousness produces peace.
Deuteronomy 32:4 KJV – “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

6. If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father:

John 8:3-11
The scribes and Pharisees tried to catch Jesus breaking the Law with a woman caught in adultery.
He didn’t contradict the Law of Moses.
He didn’t validate her sin, nor did He excuse it
He acknowledged that, under the law, she was deserving of punishment.
He demonstrated that not one man there, other than Himself, was in a position to judge her, or to carry out her punishment.
He demonstrated forgiveness.
He sent her on her way, saying, “Go, and sin no more.”
The Father, through Jesus, forgives you when you repent – so go on and serve Him.
1 Samuel 12:24 KJV – “Only fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.”