Psalm 89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

Once again I use this verse to bring this last personal attribute of God to light. If you understand the issue of the face then you understand His countenance, His expression, as seen through mercy and truth.

Having accepted the atoning work of Jesus Christ by faith, we receive mercy and we come to know the truth. His Word is true, His promises are true and His Spirit is truth. We know Him, we know truth.

I could give you a full listing of all these things to demonstrate God is true, but I would rather take this time to point out something which became apparent in these devotionals about God’s personality.

The telling of God’s personality traits is the Good News. It is salvation’s story from creation to eternity. I could not hardly relate these things I know about God without noticing the correlation between His identity and His salvation plan.

Everything God is in personality and character focuses on restoration of relationship. We can clearly see that if we look to God’s motives. If we look only to His actions it is easy to misunderstand His motives. When people ask how your God could do any particular thing, one needs only to look at His motivations first to discover why God did the things He did.

Secondly, not all acts in this world are God caused. The second most asked question is; how could God allow evil to happen? Some of the answers to that question are directly related to the fact that sin has consequences. Having a relationship with God does not nullify those consequences.

The other part of that answer might be seen in how God interacts with His creation. Those things are understood partially within His omni-actions. Omnipotent is the only one used in the KJV, Omnipresent and Omniscience are referenced in the NASB in Psalm 139:1.

Psalm 89:14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

I begin with the same scripture as yesterday because the next two personality traits of God are contained in this verse. Mercy and truth are the last two traits to be addressed.

Mercy is not receiving the punishment we all deserve. We are all guilty of sin and there was only the law to render a man righteous before God. Sadly we are all guilty of breaking God’s laws even before we come to understand there are laws and the purpose for laws.

How God dispenses mercy for all sin, no matter how big or how small, is not based on the defilement but rather the atonement. Since Christ died for all mankind’s sins for all time, then the basis for mercy lies not with the sin but in the atonement.

How do we receive mercy?

Romans 5:16-19 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Righteous is that right standing before God, being able to come before Him because sin has been dealt with by the atoning work of Christ’s death on the cross. Remember God is only looking here for a way for the object of His love to be in fellowship with Him.