God is Not a Braggart

    There's a certain passage in Exodus where the Lord makes an in-person appearance to His people. As He makes His appearance and passes before Israel, He says something to them; what He told Moses would be "the name of the LORD" in Exodus 33:19.
    "And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, 'The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression of sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation.'" (Exodus 34:6-7 NKJ)
    Quite a resume. A lot of people get somewhat puzzled the first time they read it though, because it sounds a little bit like bragging, like the Lord is going on and on about how wonderful He is. God definitely is all of these wonderful things, but He definitely is not a narcissist. Haughtiness is at the top of the Proverbs 6:17-19 list of things He hates. So why does He announce His own flawless characteristics to the people? Why not have an angel do it?
    Omission of the truth counts as deceitfulness, and God can't lie, but since Moses and the people undoubtedly already knew that Lord is righteous, a need to announce His characteristics in order to be truthful probably wasn't the reason. The Lord would also never allow His Holy Word to be polluted with a lie, including a fictional event written by someone who just wanted to "add a story" to the Bible like oral tales like Beowulf were edited over time; so that's not it either.
    Maybe the reason the Lord announced Himself like this is was an act of assurance. Because He wanted His people to know--really know--that He has all of these characteristics. To keep them and future generations from thinking of Him as only just (without mercy) or only gracious (without justice). Maybe the reason He proclaims all these wonderful things Himself is to ensure that it's not the wishful thinking of man, but that mercy, grace, patience, goodness, truthfulness, forgiveness, and justice all truly are in His character. The people knew that God can't lie, and He knew that they knew. Maybe this is the reason He chose to make the introduction Himself.
    What do you think? Have you ever wondered about this event in the Bible?