Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”[1]
God is great, God is good
Psalm 47 ESV
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy! For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us, and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; he is highly exalted!
Matthew Henry
The God with whom we have to do, is a God of awful majesty. The universal and absolute sovereignty of a holy God would be too terrible for us even to think of, were it not exercised by his Son from a mercy-seat; but now it is only terrible to the workers of iniquity. While his people express confidence and joy, and animate each other in serving him, let sinners submit to his authority, and accept his salvation. Jesus Christ shall subdue the Gentiles; he shall bring them as sheep into the fold, not for slaughter, but for preservation. He shall subdue their affections and make them a willing people in the day of his power. Also, it speaks of his giving them rest and settlement. Apply this spiritually; the Lord himself has undertaken to be the inheritance of his people. It shows the faith and submission of the saints. This is the language of every gracious soul; The Lord shall choose my inheritance for me; he knows what is good for me better than I do. [2]
Adam Clarke
God is good in the increase and amplification of his Church: “God is now the king of all the earth;” not of the Jews only, for he “reigns over the heathen” also. He “sits upon a throne of holiness;” rules by his holy word and Spirit, making them holy who were unholy. They are “a willing people” also. For the princes—the volunteers, among the people, are gathered together; even the people of the God of Abraham—the Gentiles, converted and reconciled to God.
God is good in protecting his Church; whether by himself, or by the princes he raises up; by his providence, or his angels, or all together. For the “shields of the earth belong unto God.” Secular rulers, and ecclesiastical governors, are shields of the Church. But God is the Head of it, and the Chief: “He is greatly exalted.”[3]
Duane Garrett
Someday, the psalm promises, even the Gentile nations will come and worship the God of Abraham. This has been completely fulfilled in Christ’s church.[4]
The Westminster Shorter Catechism
Question #4
What is God?
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
A Kingdom Catechism[5]
Question #46
What is the first commandment of the Law of God?
The first commandment is, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Question #47
What is the basis for the first commandment?
The basis for the first commandment is God’s eternal self-existence and His work of redeeming and saving us by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
O Fountain of all good,
Destroy in me every lofty thought, break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds, annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness, implant in me true lowliness of spirit, abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence, open in me a fount of penitential tears, break me, then bind me up; Thus, will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God; then can the Father take up his abode in me, then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch, then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace.
O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God, inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory. When thou art present evil cannot abide; in thy fellowship is fullness of joy, beneath thy smile is peace of conscience, by thy side no fears disturb, no apprehensions banish rest of mind.
With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance.
Make me meet, through repentance, for thine indwelling.[6]
Rejoice
You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. [7]
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Corinthians 4.15).
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Ki 18:38–39.
[2] Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Ps 47:1.
[3] Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible with a Commentary and Critical Notes, New Edition, vol. 3 (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, 2014), 373.
[4] Duane A. Garrett, “The Poetic and Wisdom Books,” in Holman Concise Bible Commentary, ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 225.
[5] T. M. Moore, A Kingdom Catechism, 2022, p. 43.
[6] “The Great God,” The Valley of Vision, p. 6.
[7] W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), 1 Jn 4:4.
