God Is Benevolent, Merciful, and Gracious. 

"The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works." Psalms 145:9.

Wherever the attributes of God are revealed, we see rays of

an indescribable glory and greatness. How excellent is our God! He is the great God, to whom every knee shall bow, whose will should be done on earth as it is in heaven; whom we should fear and love and in whom we should trust above all things, praising His name forevermore. It is but meet and proper that we do so; for He is eternal, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, holy, and just! What great comfort we may draw from these attributes of God! And why? Because this same God is a benevolent, merciful, and gracious God.

God is benevolent, inasmuch as He is desirous of blessing us. God is merciful, inasmuch as He has compassion on us and bestows His benefits upon us. God is gracious, inasmuch as He blesses us regardless of our merits or demerits. Oh, what a consolation for us poor sinners! From these attributes of God we learn how God is disposed toward us. “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keep­ ing mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” This is how God is disposed toward us. In a word, “ God is Love,” as we read 1 John 4,16.

God’s whole essence is Love. The greatest manifestation of God’s love was made when He sent His only-begotten Son to re­ deem us. If we would look into God’s very heart and see how much He loves us, we must behold His dear Son Jesus Christ.God commends His love toward us in that, while we were yet sin­ ners, Christ died for us.

How great must be the love Christ bears us to bring such a sacrifice for us; and how great must be the love of God the Father to us, not to spare His own Son that He might redeem us and make us His dear children! Oh, let us not receive this infinite divine love in vain! Let us love Him who has loved us first! And let us love Him in our neighbor!

Prayer.
O benevolent and merciful God, gracious Father in heaven,

Thou hast again by the protection of Thy ministering spirits, the holy angels, kept me, so that I have lived to see this day in good health and spirits. For this I earnestly laud, praise, and magnify Thee. Furthermore I pray Thee, dear heavenly Father, whose will I desire to be done in all things, graciously remember me also in future. Help me, too, by Thy grace, to begin a new life well-

pleasing to Thee, in fervent love to Thee and my neighbor.

Savior! Thy dying love Thou gavest me,
Nor should I aught withhold, dear Lord, from Thee; In love my soul would bow,
My heart fulfil its vow,
Some offering bring Thee now,
Something for Thee.

Amen