“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6b).
The Lord made His glory known to Moses by passing by him and proclaiming His Name. He had made Himself known to Moses in the glory of His self-existence and self-sufficiency when He proclaimed the name, I am that I am. Now He makes Himself known in the glory of His grace, goodness (or faithfulness, as the Hebrew term denotes), and all-sufficiency to us. In giving the second edition of the law, God prefaced it with the proclamation that it was God’s grace and goodness that gave the law. The pardon of Israel’s sin in worshiping the calf was demonstrated as they passed the seals. By this declaration, God let them know that He pardoned them merely out of His own good pleasure, not out of anything they had merited. He pardoned them from His own inclination to forgive.
He began this proclamation by addressing Himself with His covenant name, Yahweh, the LORD, who has His being in Himself and is the fountain of all being—the strong God, the God of almighty power and the source of all power. We are quick to lose sight of God’s awesome holiness and power when we consider His mercy. But it is His power and greatness that make His mercy so wonderful. His are not the mercies of a frail and feeble man; they come from a God who is sure to deliver what He has promised. He will not turn from His sovereign mercies as man is prone to do. His mercies are established by His very nature.
Next the Lord proclaims His goodness. Though the Lord is great and all-powerful, this does not mean He is not a good God. He is merciful and compassionate, just as a father is compassionate toward his children. Though we deserve punishment for our sins, God is long-suffering with all mankind. In this, we see how gracious He is. He not only has compassion on His creatures, but He actively shows them favor because of His own goodwill, not because of anything in them. There is enough mercy in the Lord for all, enough to cover each and every kind of sin. No sinner is beyond the pale of God’s ability to forgive. Though Satan often tries to convince people that God will not forgive their great and terrible sins, God says otherwise. His mercy is greater than all the sins of the world; therefore, we need not fear that the stream will run dry.
When God describes Himself, He doesn’t emphasize one characteristic to the exclusion of others. He isn’t only supreme power and justice or only love and grace. He is all of these fully, and in perfect balance. Is there an aspect of God that you emphasize too much? Avoid worshiping a "god" of your own creation.
