God: In Perfect Harmony

"Your LOVE, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
Your FAITHFULNESS to the skies.
Your RIGHTEOUSNESS is like the highest mountains,
Your JUSTICE like the great deep." —Psalm 36:6

This psalm begins with a terse statement about the wicked and then, unexpectedly, comes this marvelous declaration on the character of God.

Whatever the wicked are, however deluded, however devious and destructive, God is greater.

The psalmist continues the declaration of his faith in the One in whom he can find refuge (vs. 7), the One who provides in abundance (vs. 8, 9), and the One who vanquishes any evildoer who plots against those who belong to God.

The pairing of these four characteristics intrigues me. True love must be faithful. True righteousness demands that justice be served. The love of God, as profound as it is, will never let us down. God cannot, and will not, prove faithless.

God is righteous, perfect and holy. That righteousness cannot turn a blind eye to sin, but must demand an accounting and a payment. But because of His love for us God provided the payment in His own Son, and He faithfully keeps His word that all those who put their trust in Christ will be saved.

All four of these God-qualities link together in perfect harmony—perfect as He is perfect. And, for us sinners, that harmony gives a song of forgiveness and freedom that can never be silenced.