What does it mean that God is great?

God is not only great in the sphere of power, as is seen in creation, He is morally great also. Not only great in what He has done, but great also in what He is. These are brought together in Psalm 147: "He telleth the number of the stars: He is strong in power, not one faileth." But He also bows down to bind up the broken heart. Which is the greater? For a mighty supreme being to send forth the glorious orbs that fill the heavens, or for that same Being to bow down to interest Himself in poor weak things like you and me? It is the greatness of His love and grace that engages Him with those He has created, cares for them in their sorrows and binds up the broken heart.

(vv. 3-7) First the psalmist celebrates the greatness and power of God. The Lord is great with a greatness that is unsearchable. His acts are “mighty,” “wondrous,” and “terrible.” The generations of men will declare the greatness of His works, the glory of His majesty, the terror of His acts of judgment, and keep alive the memory of His goodness to His people, founded on righteousness.

God then is great beyond all our thoughts, as verse 18 indicates, and in the presence of His glory how foolish and contemptible, as verses 19 and 20 say, are the makers of graven images that have not even the power of motion. And further, how feeble and insignificant are men, who appear but as grasshoppers, and their princes and judges but as nothing and vanity, and as stubble in the face of a whirlwind. We may also lift up our eyes and behold the mighty creation outside our little earth; all numbered and named by Him, and upheld by Him too, so that not one fails. He who created them has no equal and cannot be likened to any other. We do well to ponder this magnificent passage, for this God of ineffable power and majesty has been made known to us in Christ as our Father.

(1) "Dominion and fear are with Him." Who can declare the infinite greatness of God, who fills heaven and earth, and transcends all His limitless creation? "The heavens, even the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee." Nor is this infinitude of being powerless; He reigns over all things, the government is His — "He everywhere hath sway, And all things serve His might."

Well may we pause and meditate with reverent awe upon the majesty and power of God. "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? … It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth … that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in … Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their hosts by number: He calleth them all by names; by the greatness of His might, and strength of His power, not one faileth" (Isa. 40:12, 22, 26). "Great God, how infinite Thou art! What helpless worms are we!"

(c) From this the psalmist turns to consider the glory of God. To put the question is to answer it — where is one like Him far as infinite space extends? and the sons of the mighty — perhaps rather of might (a "plural of majesty") — who among them can be compared to Jehovah? Think of Him in connection with the assembled wisdom of the holy ones, He is an object only of reverent fear to and above them all. Nay, he is the Immutable God of hosts, whom they all serve: where then can there be might like that of Jah? using the strong, decisive word: and His faithfulness — here is the comfort of it all — is all about Him; commensurate with the outgoing of His glorious power.

It is one of the distinguishing features of God that whilst caring and arranging for great things, such as the ordering of the solar system, or the sequence of the seasons, yet He can provide for the small things, such as marking the fall of the sparrow, or numbering the hairs of the heads of His saints. The great men of the earth are too small to look after small things—they are not big enough. How different is our God—great enough to sustain the universe, great enough to descend in fullest sympathy to the wants and woes of His meanest creature.

(2) In one word he sweeps away the unholy suspicions which had been harbored by Job — "God is great, and despiseth not any." Infinite in power as He is, He looks with compassion upon the feeblest of His creatures. There are two infinities in which He is equally seen — the infinitely great, and the infinitely small. How comforting is the truth, "He despiseth not any!" His greatness is never the occasion for scorn. His wisdom is infinitely powerful, but never exerted against feebleness. He does not ignore sin — will not, eventually, preserve the life of the ungodly; but we may be sure that He deals in perfect righteousness in all the afflictions He permits. The righteous are His special care; He withdraweth not His eyes from them. They are as secure as though they were kings, they will be established and exalted. Here Job's questionings are answered. As a righteous man, he need not fear; he is secure, and will be established and exalted in due time. This his own faith had seen through the darkness that closed about him; here it is stated once for all.

It is to be feared that the great majority of us know but little of the real depth, meaning and power of such words as these. We read them, and hear them; but we do not take them in, and make our own of them. We do not digest them and reduce them to practice. How little do we really enter into the blessed truth that our Father is interested in all our little cares and sorrows; and that we may go to Him with all our little wants and difficulties. We imagine that such things are beneath the notice of the High and Mighty One who inhabits eternity, and sits upon the circle of the earth. This is a serious mistake, and one that robs us of incalculable blessing, in our daily history. We should ever remember that there is nothing great or small with our God. All things are alike to Him who sustains the vast universe by the word of His power, and takes notice of a falling sparrow. It is quite as easy to Him to create a world as to provide a breakfast for some poor widow. The greatness of His power, the moral grandeur of His government, and the minuteness of His tender care do, all alike, command the wonder and the worship of our hearts.

With delight, Moses proclaims the Name of Jehovah, ascribing greatness to Israel's God. If poor Israel proved himself unstable, God remained immovable; He is the Rock, and nothing would move Him from His purposes, or alter His ways. Great in all in which He makes Himself known, His work is perfect, and His ways are just. How these things had been proved by Moses during the forty years in the desert! On the mount he had seen the greatness of Jehovah, when he saw His glory; to him God made known His ways in the secret of the sanctuary; and in all God's dealings with His people he had learned the nature and character of God's work. God could not allow His people's sins to go unpunished; He is a faithful God, without deceit: and in the knowledge that himself was excluded from the land, because of his failure, Moses can still say, "Just and right is He.'' How blessed for His people to have such a God: altogether transparent, no deceit, no unfaithfulness, no unrighteousness, no imperfection: and altogether marked by greatness. Only such a God could go on with such a nation; yea and with ourselves also. His transcending greatness is richly manifested in the mercy, goodness, grace and love, shown to such as we.

It is not surprising to find God described as a sun; indeed, it is most appropriate. But His name! Jehovah Elohim — the LORD God! As we read elsewhere, "The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." What a description! There we have God proclaiming His own name, declaring what He Himself is. Hear what David says in 1 Chron. 29:11-14, "Thine, O Jehovah, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Jehovah, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all." "All things come of Thee." What a glorious ascription to our great God!