Understanding God's Character and Sovereignty in Scripture
Scripture presents God's character through a constellation of attributes that together reveal a being both transcendent and intimately involved with creation. The Hebrew names for God—El (from a root meaning "to be strong") and Elohim (the plural form used throughout the biblical text)—establish divine power as foundational to his identity [1]. This power is not abstract but active, described through vivid metaphors: the voice of God, the finger of God, the arm of God, and "the thunder of his power" [3]. The psalmist declares this power "great," "strong," "glorious," "mighty," "everlasting," "sovereign," "effectual," and "irresistible" [3].
Yet power alone does not exhaust God's character. Love stands equally central, described as "a part of his character" [4]. This love is sovereign (not contingent on human merit), great, abiding, unfailing, unalienable, and everlasting [4]. It manifests toward "perishing sinners" and "the destitute" alike [4], revealing a God whose strength serves compassion rather than domination. The tension between divine sovereignty and divine love runs throughout Scripture, with God's power exercised not arbitrarily but in accordance with his holy and loving nature.
God's incomprehensibility forms another essential dimension. Job asks, "Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?" [5], while Matthew Henry observes that God is "an incomprehensible Being, infinite and immense, whose nature and perfections our finite understandings cannot possibly form any adequate conceptions of" [7]. This inscrutability does not render God unknowable, but it establishes proper humility. Psalm 147:5 affirms that "His understanding is infinite" [6], placing divine wisdom beyond human calculation.
Scripture also emphasizes God's holiness and righteousness as objects of human knowledge and reverence. Those who "know righteousness" and have God's law written in their hearts [8] respond not with terror but with what Torrey's Topical Textbook calls "godly fear"—described as "filial and reverential," motivated by God's holiness, greatness, goodness, and forgiveness [2]. This fear is "a fountain of life" and "sanctifying" [2], transforming rather than paralyzing those who encounter the divine character.
The biblical portrait resists reduction to a single attribute. God's sovereignty operates within a character marked by love, holiness, power, and inscrutability—each dimension informing and tempering the others.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: God — (A.S. and Dutch God; Dan. Gud; Ger. Gott), the name of the Divine Being. It is the rendering (1) of the Hebrew 'El, from a word meaning to be strong; (2) of 'Eloah_, plural _'Elohim. The singular form, Eloah, is used only in poetry. The plural form is more commonly used in all parts of the Bible, The Hebrew word Jehovah (q.v.), the only other word generally employed to denote the Supreme Being, is uniformly rendered in the Authorized Version by "LORD," printed in small capitals. The existence of God is taken for granted in the Bible. There is nowhere any argume”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Fear, Godly — God is the object of -- Isa 8:13. God is the author of -- Jer 32:39,40. Searching the Scriptures gives the understanding of -- Pr 2:3-5. Described as Hatred of evil. -- Pr 8:13. Wisdom. -- Job 28:28; Ps 111:10. A treasure to saints. -- Pr 15:16; Isa 33:6. A fountain of life. -- Pr 14:27. Sanctifying. -- Ps 19:9. Filial and reverential. -- Heb 12:9,28. Commanded -- De 13:4; Ps 22:23; Ec 12:13; 1Pe 2:17. Motives to The holiness of God. -- Re 15:4. The greatness of God. -- De 10:12,17. The goodness of God. -- 1Sa 12:24. The forgiveness of God. -- Ps 130:4.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Power of God, The — Is one of his attributes -- Ps 62:11. Expressed by the Voice of God. -- Ps 29:3,5; 68:33. Finger of God. -- Ex 8:19; Ps 8:3. Hand of God. -- Ex 9:3,15; Isa 48:13. Arm of God. -- Job 40:9; Isa 52:10. Thunder of his power. -- Job 26:14. Described as Great. -- Ps 79:11; Na 1:3. Strong. -- Ps 89:13; 136:12. Glorious. -- Ex 15:6; Isa 63:12. Mighty. -- Job 9:4; Ps 89:13. Everlasting. -- Isa 26:4; Ro 1:20. Sovereign. -- Ro 9:21. Effectual. -- Isa 43:13; Eph 3:7. Irresistible. -- De 32:39; Da 4:35. Incomparable. -- Ex 15:11,12; De 3:24; Job 40:9; Ps 89:8.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Love of God, The — Is a part of his character -- 2Co 13:11; 1Jo 4:8. Christ, the especial object of -- Joh 15:9; 17:26. Christ abides in -- Joh 15:10. Described as Sovereign. -- De 7:8; 10:15. Great. -- Eph 2:4. Abiding. -- Zep 3:17. Unfailing. -- Isa 49:15,16. Unalienable. -- Ro 8:39. Constraining. -- Ho 11:4. Everlasting. -- Jer 31:3. Irrespective of merit -- De 7:7; Job 7:17. Manifested towards Perishing sinners. -- Joh 3:16; Tit 3:4. His saints. -- Joh 16:27; 17:23; 2Th 2:16; 1Jo 4:16. The destitute. -- De 10:18. The cheerful giver. -- 2Co 9:7. Exhibited in The g”
- Job “Job 11:7 (BSB) — Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?”
- Psalms “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power. His understanding is infinite. -- Psalms 147:5”
- Job (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Job 11:7: Zophar here speaks very good things concerning God and his greatness and glory, concerning man and his vanity and folly: these two compared together, and duly considered, will have a powerful influence upon our submission to all the dispensations of the divine Providence. I. See here what God is, and let him be adored. 1. He is an incomprehensible Being, infinite and immense, whose nature and perfections our finite understandings cannot possibly form any adequate conceptions of, and whose counsels and actings we cannot therefore, without the greatest presumption, pas”
- Isaiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Isaiah 51:7: Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness,.... The righteousness of God, and of his law; the purity of his nature, what righteousness is agreeable to him, and required by him; the imperfection and insufficiency of a man's own righteousness, and the glory and fulness of Christ's righteousness, revealed in the Gospel; and so know that, as to approve of it, follow after it, lay hold upon it, believe in it, and rejoice in it, as their justifying righteousness: the people in whose heart is my law; not in their heads only, but in their hearts; having an understanding of”