Exodus 34:1-9

“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.’” (Exodus 34:6–7, NKJV)

Moses had asked to see the LORD’s glory. God said that He would hide Moses in the cleft of the rock and let His goodness pass before him. God would also proclaim His Name, and in so doing He would reveal His attributes. Keep in mind that this is the way God chose to reveal Himself. He wants His people to be thoroughly acquainted with His character. We do not see the LORD, but we know Him from His attributes.

The LORD is merciful, gracious, patient, abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving sins, and not excusing the guilty. If we know God for who He really is, then it makes it much easier to approach Him. It also makes it easier for us to share Him with others. We want to know Him so that we can make Him known. And He is just the kind of God that people need.

Whoever accuses God of being mean in the Old Testament and kind in the New Testament does not really know God. The difference between how God responded under the Old Covenant versus how He responds under the New Covenant is because of the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, people often died for their own sins, but in the New Testament Christ died for our sins. When we believe in Jesus and confess our sins, God sees that justice has been served, and our sins are washed away. But God is the same as He has always been and always will be.

David declared many of the LORD’s attributes in his psalms.

“The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:8–10, NKJV)

Since the name Yahweh is related to the verb “to be”, the LORD becomes these attributes to us as we trust Him and confess our need. Which of these seven attributes of God do you need from Him today? How can you share this with someone else?