“A Big God For Hard Times” (Part Two)

We are taking time this week to be reminded of the greatness of our God—a helpful reminder in the difficult times being faced by our people, and by ourselves. Monday we began by seeing the greatness of God’s righteousness—and the great privilege we can have of right standing and relationship with Him. Today, we add another piece, seeing that God is…

The Powerful One

We tend to throw the word great around rather loosely, yet, there are things in the world that rise to the level of being truly great:

• In history, we see Alexander the Great, the Greek general who had conquered the world by his 33rd birthday.
• In literature, we have F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”
• In nature, we have the Great Lakes in the upper midwest of the United States and the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.
• In architecture, there are the Great Wall of China and the Great Pyramids.
• In film, one of my all-time favorite movies is “The Great Escape,” which chronicles the massive escape by World War II allied soldiers from a Nazi prisoner of war camp.
• In economics, few events could rival the “Great Depression” of the 1930s—an event that shaped the values of a generation.

In the end, however, great should draw us to higher and greater thoughts. Great should point us to our God. The psalmist turns to the God of Heaven and declares, “You who have done great things…”

“Done great things”… what had He done? We may not know with certainty what He had done for the psalmist, but we can recite the greatness of what He has done for us. It is interesting to see they are rooted in Psalm 95, which declares “For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods” (v.3):

• Creation- speaks of the greatness of God’s power (“The sea is His, for it was He who made it, And His hands formed the dry land.” v.5)
• Cross- speaks of the greatness of God’s love (“O come, let us sing for joy to the LORD, Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.” v.1)
• Crown- speaks of the greatness of God’s authority (“Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” v.6)
• Care- speaks of the greatness of God’s involvement in our lives (“For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.” v.7)

Psalm 95 is a terrific hymn of encouragement to us, and I commend it to you because it reminds us that He has done great things: and His ability to do great things is not diminished by our hard times! In fact, it is in our weakness that His strength is seen, as Paul wrote:

And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.” (2 Cor.12:9)

We have a great God who can do great things—and that is absolutely critical. For, “in times like these, we need a Savior.” On Friday we will examine the last phrase of Psalm 71:19.