I think for most of us, if we considered listing the necessary attributes of God revealed in the Bible, that is, what Scripture declares to be the fundamental requirements of God’s nature and character for Him to be God, the One and Only God, these would be largely the same. We would all affirm that God must be holy, God must be all-powerful, He must be all-knowing, and so on.
However, I’ve been rereading Jonathan Edwards’ work, The End for Which God Created the World (see our Great Reads section if your interest is piqued), and was struck again by his argument that one of the necessary attributes of God is that He must be perpetually and pervasively happy. If God is not happy and able to keep Himself so, we can have no confidence in His ability to bring any of our lives, then, to a happy conclusion. If He cannot behold His own creation, and the glory of His own being, and find everlasting delight, how can we ever possibly hope to?
And so he argues in his unique, Edwardsian fashion, (which is appropriate, since he is Edwards!), piling argument upon argument, and scripture upon scripture, until you finally succumb to the avalanche of both God’s Word and reason that God indeed must necessarily be happy.
Once I dug myself out, I was struck by a similar aspect of God’s character that we typically would not name, but I believe to be absolutely indispensable. For most who have considered the plight of the orphan and the afflicted, you know, it does not take long to pull together the dozens upon dozens of passages in Scripture where God speaks on their behalf. And perhaps you’ve even noted with delight and approval God’s consistent declaration that He is “the God of the orphan and the widow”. But have you considered what all these passages and promises about the orphan have to do with you and me?
In the book of Hosea God provides us with one of the first “reality” series ever devised. The purpose here is not gross voyeurism, but a living portrayal of Israel’s betrayal to her husband, the Lord and God of all. Through Hosea and Gomer Israel’s persistent and grotesque adulteries to the gods of the nations is paraded publicly before the people. God’s judgements are repeated throughout the book until at last Israel is appealed to return to God, “to take words with you, and to return to the Lord”. (Hosea 14:2) They are to say to God “Assyria shall not save us, we will not ride on horses, and we will say no more, ‘our god’ to the work of our hands. In You the orphan finds mercy”. (Hosea 14:3)
Here comes the key part. Notice the flow of their argument. First they promise to not trust in other nations. (Therefore, also the gods of other nations.) Nor will they ride on horses, which refers to their trusting in armies to protect them or save them. Finally they declare they will turn away from idols.
But what is the ground of their hope? On what basis can they possibly appeal to God to hear, heal, and forgive them one more time? It can’t be based upon covenant performance or faithfulness for as we have seen, the entire book is an expose of their scandalous infidelities. Nor, they have found, that they can place any hope on merely clinging to their covenantal status as “God People” (see Hosea 1:9).
The answer of course, is in the final phrase of 14:3, “In you the orphan finds mercy.” Okay, so at first glance their argument might look a bit obtuse, but let me try to focus it in for us. If God delights to show mercy (hesed: lovingkindness, grace) to the orphan who has no greatness to commend him, no position that can be leveraged to God’s benefit, but cry out to God simply because they have nowhere else to go, so, then, can we. For we learn that grace is not dependent upon position or performance, but rather a coming to Him broken and empty and wanting no other options but Him.
So, why do we need a God who favors the weak? For the basis of our hope rests solely on one peculiar aspect of God’s nature; His preference for the weak. Thanks be to God.
Hos. 14:3c
