DEFINITION: God does not depend on any source for His existence & exists independently of any cause. God is fully capable of existing in isolation should He so cnhoose. His self-existence is seen in the Name by which He revealed Himself --  Yahweh the One Who is the “I am that I am” (Heb 3:14) God's self-existence is a profound mystery that cannot be understood by finite man but is a truth that renews our mind bringing comfort, assurance and stability. God exists independently of all things and thus will always be there for His people. This truth undergirds the exhortation to believers to let our "character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," (Heb13:5)

Spurgeon writes that

RELATED RESOURCES
GOD'S SELF-EXISTENCE

What God Is Like by J. Hampton Keathley III

Attributes of God - Where Did God Come From?  The Self Existence of God - by Dr S Lewis Johnson - Recommended Resource - includes Mp3, Pdf or MS Word document. This is only one study out of over 100 in depth lectures by Dr Johnson on Systematic Theology including studies of the doctrines of God, Christ, the Spirit, Prayer, Salvation, etc. (click for this extensive list)

Spurgeon commenting on this verse writes

Sovereignty is defined by Webster's as supreme power especially over a body politic freedom from external control: controlling influence. God is the ultimate authority in every sphere and place; all creation is subject to Him, all creation is answerable to Him. What verb do you see in the word sovereign? "Reign" of course, and this verb captures the essence of this divine attribute.

The 1828 Edition of Webster's defines Sovereign as

Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; as a sovereign ruler of the universe. Supreme; superior to all others; chief. God is the sovereign good of all who love and obey him. Supremely efficacious; superior to all others; predominant; effectual; as a sovereign remedy."

Easton's Bible Dictionary says Sovereignty is God's

absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure (Da 4:25, 35; Ro 9:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23; 1Ti 6:15; Re 4:11).

New Unger's Bible Dictionary says that regarding the Sovereignty of God, that

He is under no external restraint whatsoever. He is the Supreme Dispenser of all events. All forms of existence are within the scope of His dominion. And yet this is not to be viewed in any such way as to abridge the reality of the moral freedom of God’s responsible creatures or to make men anything else than the arbiters of their own eternal destinies. God has seen fit to create beings with the power of choice between good and evil. He rules over them in justice and wisdom and grace. (Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Chicago: Moody Press)

There is no attribute more comforting to His children than that of God’s Sovereignty.

God's sovereignty overrules every calamity. Let's take a brief look at His sovereignty over historical events. Did you know that two great leaders, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt, almost died before the World War II began? In December 1931, Churchill was struck by a car as he crossed Fifth Avenue in New York City. In Miami in December 1933, an assassin's bullet barely missed Roosevelt and killed the man standing beside him. Both leaders survived and contributed mightily to the defeat of Hitler. Why did they survive to lead their nations in this time of crisis? Because God was in control back then and He is still in control. God is sovereign over nations causing their leaders to rise and to fall (Da 2:21; 4:32, 33, 34, 35; 5:21). The prophet Habakkuk complained that it didn't seem right for God to use wicked Babylon to discipline Israel, but God assured him that this did not mean evil would triumph. God was in control and would one day bring about perfect justice

"Is it not indeed from the LORD of hosts That peoples toil for fire, And nations grow weary for nothing? For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:13, 14).

Dear brother or sister in Christ, rest assured that your times are also in the omnipotent, omniscient God's hands. No matter what may happen in this world, He is always in control!

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GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY

The Sovereignty of God by A. W. Pink

Sovereign by C H Spurgeon

The Sovereignty of God by Joseph Irons

What God Is Like by J. Hampton Keathley III

How Much Does God Control?  Pdf booklet from Radio Bible Class

The Sovereignty of God in History by Bob Deffinbaugh, Th.M.

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation - (Romans 9:1-24)by Bob Deffinbaugh, Th.M.

From John Piper on the Sovereignty of God

When the Bible Blows Your Mind

The Absolute Sovereignty of God

Is God Less Glorious Because He Ordained That Evil Be?

How Does a Sovereign God Love?

The Sovereignty of God and Prayer

Being Loved and Being Hated

A Service of Sorrow, Self-Humbling, and Steady Hope in Our Savior and King, Jesus Christ: A Response to the Attack on the World Trade Center
God Does Not Repent Like a Man

Righteous Job and the Rock Star

Job: Reverent in Suffering
Endings Are For Gratitude, Beginnings Are For Faith

God Can Turn This Around

Terrorism, Justice, and Loving Our Enemies

Why I Do Not Say: "God Did Not Cause the Calamity but He Can Use It For Good"

I am The Lord, and Besides Me There Is No Savior

From Wonder to Witness

For note by C H Spurgeon click Transcendent

Transcendent is defined by the modern Webster's dictionary

"as exceeding usual limits; extending or lying beyond the limits of ordinary experience."

The more Bibliocentric 1828 Webster's Dictionary defines transcendent as

"Very excellent; superior or supreme in excellence; surpassing others; as transcendent worth; transcendent valor. Cloth'd with transcendent brightness. Transcendental quantities, among geometricians, are indeterminate ones, or such as cannot be expressed or fixed to any constant equation."

Transcendence is a  theological term referring to the relation of God to creation. God is “other,” “different” from His creation. He is independent and different from His creatures (Is 55:8–9). He transcends His creation. He is beyond it and not limited by it or to it. This simple understanding of this awesome attribute makes it all the more humbling & praiseworthy that His transcendence never removes Him from intimate involvement in His peoples’ lives. Remember that our transcendent God is also the omnipresent God & is never farther than a prayer away.

For note by C H Spurgeon click Truthful

God is the definition of truth; He is absolutely true, and all truth accords with God’s actions. God is all that He as God should be and that His word and revelation are completely reliable. He is absolutely dependable, without falseness of any kind. God’s plan, principles, and promises are completely reliable, accurate, real, and factual. God is real not imaginary, vain and empty like the idols of the pagans, who represent a so-called god of their own vain imagination. Truth can be depended upon and does not fail, change, or disappoint and so practically God's promises are all yea and amen in Christ Jesus and His word cannot fail or disappoint. The practical aspect of God's unchanging truthfulness is that we can stand on His promises with full assurance of faith no matter how we feel, no matter how dire our circumstances. We can trust and rest on this great attribute of God, forever and forever. Amen. And since God is truth, He desires that those who would give a proper opinion of Him also be truthful in the words and deeds. (Ro 12:9). Scriptures on God is truth: Ex 34:6; Nu 23:19; Ps 19:9; 91:4; 100:5; 146:6; Isa 25:1; 65:16 Da 4:37; Mic7:20; Jn 17:17; 2 Cor 1:20; Rev 16:7.

Wisdom strikes many in the modern world as an "abstract" idea, one which is difficult to define practically. Biblical wisdom however is to the contrary imminently practical, representing in its essence the practical skill for living successfully. Wisdom is the ability to judge correctly and to follow the best course of action, based on knowledge and understanding. As discussed below God Alone is the Source of this quality of wisdom, quite different from the best wisdom of fallen men.

James describes men's wisdom as

"not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing." This wisdom he contrasts the wisdom of God which is "from above (and) is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." (Js 3:15-18) This godly wisdom is made available to godless men through the God-Man, Christ Jesus.

Paul, in describing the gospel, wrote that

"the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”  Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1Cor 1:18-25)

Paul adds that

"we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;" (1Cor 2:6-8)

Paul goes on to explain to the Colossians that in Christ

"are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (see note Colossians 2:3) and now through the gospel, by God's doing believers "are in Christ Jesus, Who became to us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption" (1Cor 1:30)

And so it is fitting that Paul ended one of his prayers

"to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen." (Ro 16:27) 

With Paul our eternal chorus will surely be

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (see notes Romans 11:33-36)

The Hebrew word for wisdom (chakmah) (see in depth sudden of Greek word for wisdom sophia)

"represents a manner of thinking and attitude concerning life’s experiences; including matters of general interest and basic morality. These concerns relate to prudence in secular affairs, skills in the arts, moral sensitivity, and experience in the ways of the Lord...The wisdom of the Old Testament however, is quite distinct from other ancient world views although the format of wisdom literature is similar to that of other cultures. Reflected in Old Testament wisdom is the teaching of a personal God who is holy and just and who expects those who know him to exhibit his character in the many practical affairs of life. This perfect blend of the revealed will of a holy God with the practical human experiences of life is also distinct from the speculative wisdom of the Greeks. The ethical dynamic of Greek philosophy lay in the intellect; if a person had perfect knowledge he could live the good life (Plato). Knowledge was virtue. The emphasis of Old Testament wisdom was that the human will, in the realm of practical matters, was to be subject to divine causes. Therefore, Hebrew wisdom was not theoretical and speculative, It was practical, based on revealed principles of right and wrong, to be lived out in daily life...The source of all wisdom is a personal God Who is holy, righteous, and just. His wisdom is expressed against the background of his omnipotence and omniscience. By His wisdom God numbered the clouds (Job 38:37), founded the earth ("Jehovah by wisdom founded the earth. By understanding He established the heavens." Pr 3:19, cf "O Lord, how many are Thy works! In wisdom Thou hast made them all, the earth is full of Thy possessions." (Ps 104:24), and made the world (Jer 10:12). Wisdom, being found in God, is regarded as a divine attribute (Job 12:13). He alone knows wisdom in its truest sense (Job 28:20, 23). The wisdom of God is not found in man’s speculation. He alone must provide this wisdom for man’s guidance so that man can live the best possible moral and ethical life (Pr 2:6; Job 11:6)." (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, p282-283).

Daniel a man of high esteem, who after receiving the answer to Nebuchadnezzar's dream

"answered and said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. And it is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding.  It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him." (Da 2:20-22). 

As noted God alone possesses wisdom in the absolute sense for

"with Him are wisdom and might. To Him belong counsel and understanding." (Job 12:13).

God gives His wisdom to those who fear Him for as the writer of proverbs say

"the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..." (Pr 9:10)

J. I. Packer writes in Knowing God that

"When the old Reformed theologians dealt with the attributes of God, they used to classify them in two groups: incommunicable and communicable. In the first group, they put those qualities which highlight God’s transcendence and show how vastly different a being He is from us, His creatures. The usual list was—God’s independence (self–existence and self–sufficiency); His immutability (entire freedom from change, leading to entire consistency in action); His infinity (freedom from all limits of time and space: that is, his eternity and omnipresence); and His simplicity (the fact that there are in Him no elements that can conflict, so that, unlike us, He cannot be torn in different directions by divergent thoughts and desires). The theologians called these qualities incommunicable because they are characteristic of God alone; man, just because he is man and not God, does not and cannot share any of them. In the second group, the theologians lumped together qualities like God’s spirituality, freedom and omnipotence, along with all his moral attributes—goodness, truth, holiness, righteousness and so on. What was the principle of classification here? It was this—that when God made man, he communicated to him qualities corresponding to all these....Among these communicable attributes, the theologians put wisdom. As God is wise in Himself, so He imparts wisdom to his creatures. The Bible has a great deal to say about the divine gift of wisdom. The first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs are a single sustained exhortation to seek this gift. “Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. . . . Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life” (Pr 4:7, 13). Wisdom is personified and made to speak in her own cause: “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death” (Pr8:34–36). Where can we find wisdom? What steps must a person take to lay hold of this gift? There are two prerequisites, according to Scripture.

1. We must learn to reverence God. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Ps 111:10; Pr 9:10; compare Job 28:28; Pr 1:7; 15:33). Not till we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God’s holiness and sovereignty (“the great and awesome God,” Neh 1:5; compare Neh 4:14; 9:32; Deut 7:21; 10:17; Ps 99:3; Jer 20:11), acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours. It is to be feared that many Christians spend all their lives in too unhumbled and conceited a frame of mind ever to gain wisdom from God at all. Not for nothing does Scripture say, “with the lowly is wisdom” (Pr 11:2 KJV).

2. We must learn to receive God’s word. Wisdom is divinely wrought in those, and those only, who apply themselves to God’s revelation. “Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,” declares the psalmist; “I have more insight than all my teachers”—why?—“for I meditate on your statutes” (Ps 119:98–99). So Paul admonishes the Colossians: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly . . . with all wisdom” (Col 3:16). How are we of the twentieth century to do this? By soaking ourselves in the Scriptures, which, as Paul told Timothy (and he had in mind the Old Testament alone!), “are able to make you wise for salvation” through faith in Christ, and to make us “thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2Ti 3:15–17). Again, it is to be feared that many today who profess to be Christ’s never learn wisdom, through failure to attend sufficiently to God’s written Word. Cranmer’s Prayer Book lectionary (which all Anglicans are meant to follow) will take one through the Old Testament once, and the New Testament twice, every year. William Gouge, the Puritan, read fifteen chapters regularly each day. The late Archdeacon T. C. Hammond used to read right through the Bible once a quarter. How long is it since you read right through the Bible? Do you spend as much time with the Bible each day as you do even with the newspaper? What fools some of us are!—and we remain fools all our lives, simply because we will not take the trouble to do what has to be done to receive the wisdom which is God’s free gift.

How is God's Omniscience (knows all things) compared to the Wisdom of God? In M H Smith's Systematic Theology we read that

"Along with omniscience God is said to be all–wise. The distinction between knowledge and wisdom is recognized in most languages. They are rooted in different capacities of the soul. The source of knowledge is study; of wisdom, discernment. Knowledge is discursive, wisdom intuitive. Knowledge is theoretical; wisdom practical, teleological; it makes knowledge subservient to an end. Knowledge is a matter of the mind apart from the will; wisdom is a matter of the mind made subservient to the will."

Louis Goldberg sums up the practical aspects of this divine attribute

"Wisdom for man is not only to make one humanly wise, but also to lead him to fear the Lord, for this is the beginning of all wisdom (Job 28:28). True wisdom for man involves knowing the Holy One. So, men are to listen to the wisdom of God with attentive ears (Pr 2:2). In fact, inner happiness only comes when man attains this wisdom (Pr 3:13) through a strenuous search (Pr 2:4), which is actually a search for God himself (Pr 2:5). Skeptics will never find this wisdom and will never know the full meaning of life (Pr 14:6ff). In the great poem of Job 28 wisdom in this special biblical sense is practically defined as trust in God and the avoidance of sin." (TWOT, p284)

Treasures of Wisdom from The Joy of Knowing God   Action To Take:

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WISDOM OF GOD

Attributes of God - The Wisdom of God, part 1 - by Dr S Lewis Johnson - and The Knowledge and Wisdom of God, part 2 - Recommended Resource - includes Mp3, Pdf or MS Word document. This is only one study out of over 100 in depth lectures by Dr Johnson on Systematic Theology including studies of the doctrines of God, Christ, the Spirit, Prayer, Salvation, etc. (click for this extensive list)

Wrath is "the personal manifestation of God’s holy, moral character in judgment against sin. Wrath is neither an impersonal process nor irrational and fitful like anger. It is in no way vindictive or malicious. It is holy indignation—God’s anger directed against sin. God’s wrath is an expression of His holy love. If God is not a God of wrath, His love is no more than frail, worthless sentimentality; the concept of mercy is meaningless; and the Cross was a cruel and unnecessary experience for His Son." (Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville: T. Nelson) (See also Holman Bible Dictionary)

Paul addressing even "religious" readers who may not be truly regenerate warns that

"because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality (note: their deeds don't save them but are external evidence of internal regeneration), eternal life but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation." (Ro 2:5-8 - notes)

God is glorified in the display of His Wrath: In Romans 9 Paul asks the rhetorical question

"What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?" (Ro 9:22 - note) John MacArthur comments that in this section of Romans Paul "gives two reasons for, although not a complete explanation of, God’s allowing sin to enter and contaminate His universe. The Greek term behind willing is much stronger than this English word connotes. The Greek word carries the idea of determined intent, not indifferent or helpless acquiescence. First, Paul says, God determined to allow sin in His creation because it gave Him the opportunity to demonstrate His wrath. God is glorified in displaying His wrath, just as surely as in displaying His grace, because both of those attributes, along with all the others, comprise His divine nature and character, which are perfectly and permanently self-consistent and are worthy of adoration and worship. Even God’s anger, vengeance, and retribution poured out on sinners are glorious, because they display His majestic holiness." (Romans. Chicago: Moody Press)

Ray Stedman writes that

Slow to Anger from the book "The Joy of Knowing God" by Richard L. Strauss  

From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia:

Divine Wrath: Wrath is used with reference to both God and man. When used of God it is to be understood that there is the complete absence of that caprice and unethical quality so prominent in the anger attributed to the gods of the heathen and to man. The divine wrath is to be regarded as the natural expression of the divine nature, which is absolute holiness, manifesting itself against the willful, high-handed, deliberate, inexcusable sin and iniquity of mankind. God's wrath is always regarded in the Scripture as the just, proper, and natural expression of His holiness and righteousness which must always, under all circumstances, and at all costs be maintained. It is therefore a righteous indignation and compatible with the holy and righteous nature of God (Nu 11:1-10; Dt 29:27; 2Sa 6:7; Isa 5:25; 42:25; Jer 44:6; Ps 79:6). The element of love and compassion is always closely connected with God's anger; if we rightly estimate the divine anger we must unhesitatingly pronounce it to be but the expression and measure of that love (compare Jer 10:24; Eze 23; Am 3:2).

Divine Wrath Consistent with Love: Wrath or anger, as pertaining to God, is very much more prominent in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. This is to be accounted for probably because the New Testament magnifies the grace and love of God as contrasted with His wrath; at least love is more prominent than wrath in the revelation and teaching of Christ and His apostles. Nevertheless, it must not be thought that the element of wrath, as a quality of the divine nature, is by any means overlooked in the New Testament because of the prominent place there given to love. On the contrary, the wrath of God is intensified because of the more wonderful manifestation of His grace, mercy and love in the gift of His Son Jesus Christ as the Savior of the world. God is not love only: He is also righteous; yea, "Our God is a consuming fire" (Heb 12:29); "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb 10:31). No effeminate, sentimental view of the Fatherhood of God or of His mercy and loving-kindness can exclude the manifestation of His just, righteous and holy anger against sin and the sinner because of his transgression (1Pet 1:17; Heb 10:29). One thing only can save the sinner from the outpouring of God's righteous anger against sin in the day of visitation, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as the divinely-appointed Redeemer of the world (Jn 3:36; Ro 1:16, 17, 18; 5:9). Nor should the sinner think that the postponement or the omission (or seeming omission) of the visitation of God's wrath against sin in the present means the total abolition of it in the future. Postponement is not abolition; indeed, the sinner, who continually rejects Jesus Christ and the salvation which God has provided in Him, is simply `treasuring up' wrath for himself "in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who (one day) will render to every man according to his works: .... to them that .... obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, .... wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil" (Ro 2:5, 6, 7, 8, 9; 2Pe 3:10; Re 6:16,17; 16:19; 19:15).

God's anger while slow, and not easily aroused (Ps 103:8; Isa 48:9; Jon 4:2; Nah1:3)

is to be dreaded (Ps 2:12; 76:7; 90:11; Mt 10:28);
is not to be provoked (Jer 7:19; 1 Cor 10:22);
when visited, in the present life, should be borne with submission (2Sa 24:17; La 3:39,43; Mic 7:9);
prayer should be earnestly made for deliverance from it (Ps 39:10; 80:4; Da 9:16; Hab 3:2);
it should be the means of leading man to repentance (Isa 42:24,25; Jer 4:8).