No More Cherry Picking

"The LORD came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name Yahweh.Then the Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed:

Yahweh—Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God, 

slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth, 

maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, 

forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. 

But He will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ wrongdoing on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation."

Exodus 34:5-7 

I have long loved this passage because it is God speaking of Himself. In no way does it cover all of his attributes, but these are the ones He Himself chose to proclaim before Moses. In it, I see a God of great love- compassionate, gracious, faithful, slow to anger, forgiving- but I also see ultimate power and authority- truth, punishment, justice. While they are not specifically cited, I can also see references of His patience and perseverance. God is love, and all which that encompasses; of that, there is no doubt. However God is also absolute truth and justice- and everything which corresponds to those.  

When I highlight verses in my Bible or study a specific Scripture, I often like to stop before I get to the "doom and gloom" parts. I'll  read the more intense passages; I just find that I don't dwell or consider them much. Not because I don't believe them, but they just don't give me the "warm fuzzies" like the rest of the verse. However it is not my job nor my place to cherry pick from the Bible nor should I find the authority of God less appealing or worthy of consideration. On the contrary, I should embrace them, for I find that His authority, truth and justice help me as I wade through a world that tells me:

1- We all can have our own truth; your truth is whatever works for you.

2- Justice is a matter of perspective. Just like history is written by the winners, so justice is relative to the opinions of the individuals involved but ultimately decided by the one wielding the most power.

3- Power and authority can be bought.

Instead of being left with this haphazard, undefined and hopeless message of the world, God offers me security, stability, clarity and hope. Yes even in the times when I choose my way instead of His, I still find hope in His justice because of who God is, because I can trust in His unwavering truth, authority, and grace.


King of Heaven, Ruler of all the Universe,

If I ever approach you with anything less than awe, please forgive me. I delight in so many of your qualities but find that too often I focus on the "easy" attributes- Your love, grace, gentleness and compassion. May I never forget that while You are all those things, You are also my king and  judge, all-powerful and  otherwise unattainable except that You desire it.

Thank You for bringing security, clarity and hope to my life through Your unwavering truth, Your absolute authority and Your faithful justice.