I praise you, Lord God, for the beauty of your Character as shown in Psalm 86:15 “…you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
You lean over the side of heaven and in compassion follow carefully every aspect of my life, preparing each day in detail, providing protection, chastening, guiding and blessing.
In compassion you also take me through difficulties to break, shape and transform me. You are wholehearted and full orbed in your compassion.
You are gracious: kind and good in your dealings with me. You are richly generous, pouring out upon me blessing after blessing. You have given me health, strength, the ability to see, hear, walk and talk, you have given me a fine family, good friends, meaningful work, constant protection and many belongings. And even if I had none of these, I have you! I lack nothing because you are my Shepherd.
You are slow to anger: deeply patient, graciously patient, perfectly patient and therefore persistent in our relationship. I so often fail, especially in my thought life and in my motives, and in each sin grieve you, giving you pain.
Yet you do not respond in anger, but instead kindly correct me over and over. You start with very small alerts and if I don’t respond, slowly work your way up to larger rebukes, patiently giving me chance after chance to see, confess and repent of one sin after another. I praise you for your great, rich, comforting, healing patience.
You are abounding in love: you are an overflowing spring of grace with an endless stream of goodness that pours out of your rich person, for you are agape love itself.
Praise you that your love is unaffected by any of my failures, that your love flows deeply, widely and powerfully forever. It evokes from me an answering love, a desire to do what is pleasing to your heart. Your love transforms, cleanses, equips and leads us on, consistently, abundantly and graciously.
You are abounding in faithfulness: you are perfect, unchanging, unwaveringly consistent. You are faithful to your Character, to your Word, to your wisdom to your promises, to your plan. We can trust you wholly, wholeheartedly, totally and eternally. You are faithful when we are not; you are faithful when it costs you. You are faithful forever.
Glory be to you, Lord God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are totally worthy of worship, of honor, of exaltation. I bow before you today in awe, I rise up in surrender to obey in praise and thanksgiving. May you be lifted up, glorified and honored in my life today, in my motives, thoughts, words and deeds.
