Greatness

What’s So Great about God’s Greatness?

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3 KJV

The word great has lost its greatness. Overuse and misuse have toppled it. Dethroned and disgraced, it’s been relegated to the Most Unwanted Adjectives posters taped to the walls of English classrooms across the country.

Merriam-Webster lists fourteen definitions and dozens of synonyms for this once majestic and mighty adjective.[i] But its uses have become so diverse and diluted, it might as well ask a, an, and the if it can be an article.

For example, the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China are so named because of their size. Dickens titled one of his novels Great Expectations because the main character had lofty but unreachable aspirations. Some athletes are crowned the G.O.A.T (greatest of all time) because of their dominance in a sport.

So when we sing songs like “How Great Thou Art,” what exactly do we mean? God’s big? Unreachable? Talented? Dominating? Stuart Hines wrote that beloved hymn’s lyrics. In it, he praised God’s creative genius and his redemptive grace. But does that convey the magnitude of God’s greatness?

The Hebrew word for great comes from a root word that means “to twist together.”[ii] It refers to the strength of a rope composed of many threads twisted together—the more threads, the stronger the rope.  A powerful God is good. A loving God is good. Twist power and love together and you begin to understand his greatness. As I mentally entwined the threads of God’s character, the splendor of his greatness increased: justice and forgiveness, righteousness and compassion, strength and tenderness.

No wonder the psalmist exclaimed, “His greatness in unsearchable.” The greatness of God extends way beyond immensity, intensity, or variety. It’s bound up in the infinite complexity of his nature.

The Hebrew word translated “unsearchable” means “past finding out.”[iii] In other words, no amount of investigation will ever make the subject under consideration comprehensible. So add the thread of incomprehensibility to God’s character (I can barely pronounce the word, much less understand it.)

At the end of his gospel, John wrote, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (21:25). If that’s how John felt after spending three years with one person of the Godhead confined in a human body,  how much more “unsearchable” is the Triune Godhead?

How has God manifested his greatness in your life? What makes you say, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised?”

DIG DEEPER

Read Psalm 145. What manifestations of God’s greatness does David mention? What evidence of God’s greatness have you seen lately? Have you told anyone about those “mighty acts” (v. 4)?

Exodus 15:1-18 is the first hymn recorded in the Bible. What aspects of God’s greatness does Moses praise in it? What song of praise can you sing to God today?

Many biblical writers praise the greatness of God’s love for us. Read Psalm 103:8-14 and Lamentations 3:22-26. What facets of God’s love are these writers highlighting? Haw has God demonstrated his great love for you recently?

To read the lyrics of Stuart Hine’s tribute to God’s greatness, go to How Great Thou Art.

Denise K. Loock

[i] “Great,” Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary, accessed June 15, 2023, https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/great; Collegiate Thesaurus, https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/great.

[ii] “Great,” “H1419 – gāḏôl – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (niv).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 15 Jun, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h1419/niv/wlc/0-1/

[iii] “Unsearchable,” “H2714 – ḥēqer – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (niv).” Blue Letter Bible. Accessed 15 Jun, 2023. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2714/niv/wlc/0-1/