God Is Great

“God Is Great”

Text: Deuteronomy 10:17-21

I. Welcome

II. Introduction

Probably one of the first prayers we learned after “Now I lay me down to sleep” was “God is great! God is good! Let us thank Him for our food!” We may have even learned the longer version which included: “By His hand we all are fed, give us Lord our daily bread.” From this brief prayer, from our scripture reading and from the hymns we sing, we verbally acknowledge that God is great. But, this morning, I want us to look at a few more passages to better understand and appreciate the greatness of God. This is not a sermon that ends with an application except that I hope you’ll meditate on the greatness of God this week. I trust you will open your Bibles or take notes as we study together because we’re going to read a lot of scripture. Then, please be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 and search the scriptures daily to make sure I’m preaching the truth.

III. Lesson

Our scripture reading this morning extols the greatness of God – something the children of Israel should have realized after their deliverance from Egyptian bondage and 40 years in the wilderness. I want us to begin by looking at two more passages about God’s greatness. The first is found in 2 Samuel 7:18-23 – Then King David went in and sat before the LORD; and he said: “Who am I, O Lord GOD? And what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was a small thing in Your sight, O Lord GOD; and You have also spoken of Your servant’s house for a great while to come. Is this the manner of man, O Lord GOD? Now what more can David say to You? For You, Lord GOD, know Your servant. For Your word’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all these great things, to make Your servant know them. Therefore You are great, O Lord GOD. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. And who is like Your people, like Israel, the one nation on the earth whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people, to make for Himself a name – and to do for Yourself great and awesome deeds for Your land – before Your people whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, the nations, and their gods?” And, the second is found in Psalm 145:3-13 –

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Your works to another,

And shall declare Your mighty acts.

I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,

And on Your wondrous works.

Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,

And I will declare Your greatness.

They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,

And shall sing of Your righteousness.

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,

Slow to anger and great in mercy.

The LORD is good to all,

And His tender mercies are over all His works.

All Your works shall praise You, O LORD,

And Your saints shall bless You.

They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom,

And talk of Your power,

To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts,

And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,

And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.

Both of these passages speak of various aspects of God’s greatness but, before we look at a few of these, I want us to go back up to verse 3 of this psalm –

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

This last phrase could be translated: “And His greatness is beyond our understanding” or “past finding out.” This same Hebrew phrase is found in Job 9:10 but we need to read verses 4-12 to better appreciate the impossibility of fully understanding God’s greatness –

God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.

Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?

He removes the mountains, and they do not know

When He overturns them in His anger;

He shakes the earth out of its place,

And its pillars tremble;

He commands the sun, and it does not rise;

He seals off the stars;

He alone spreads out the heavens,

And treads on the waves of the sea;

He made the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades,

And the chambers of the south;

He does great things past finding out,

Yes, wonders without number.

If He goes by me, I do not see Him;

If He moves past, I do not perceive Him;