I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. 2 Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever. 3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.  Psalm 145: 1-3

We use the word great so often that it hardly means anything anymore. All day long, we are heard to say: “That’s great!”, “It was great!”, “I’m great!”, “This is great!”, and sometimes even “Not so great!”

However, when we use the word great with respect to God, it must certainly have a greater meaning. What, then, does it mean to say that God is great? Among other things, it means that: (1). God is beyond boundaries. There are no limits to His presence. There are no limits to His power. There are no limits to His Person. (2). God is greater than any other being. Indeed, one of the definitions of God which comes to us through theological antiquity is that God is that being greater than which nothing can be conceived. (St. Anselm) (3). God is beyond whatever we consider to be our best. God exceeds our best achievements. God excels our best scores. God expands our best ideas. (4). God is greatly to be praised. A great God deserves great praise. Great in intensity. Great in frequency. Great in sincerity. Great in beauty. Great in glory.