Our God Is Incomparable
Introduction
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Have you ever said that? Have you ever felt that way?
This is a common human experience. We say things like this expression when we think about being far away from those whom we love. We start to appreciate people and relationships more when they are not as near as they used to be. We stop taking them for granted.
The gap between us and another person increases our appreciation of them.
And that is what I would like to do in this sermon series. No, God is not far from them that seek Him. In fact, that will be a topic we cover, God’s Immanence or His nearness to us. But there is a gap that when we grasp its depth and width, should cause us to love and worship in a more complete way. It is not a gap of relational distance, but of nature. Of essence. This gap tells us one very important thing. “God is not like us.”
What I pray for this sermon, and the rest of this series is that we would see God for Who He is. And in so doing, recognize wow. God is not like me. In fact, God is more unlike me than He is like me. But we should not conclude that therefore God is cold or unknowable. In fact, we should be even more amazed that this God wants to know us.
We should rejoice that He has revealed Himself to us by His Son, Jesus Christ. The God that is so different, so unlike us, has condescended and made Himself knowable to us! That in and of itself is miraculous! It would take an infinitely powerful and wise being to make it possible for finite and, yes, even defective creatures to know their infinitely grand and good Creator.
And so not only are we grateful for His love and deepened in our appreciation of Him, but as we begin to understand how different God is, how much better He is than anything else, we enjoy His beauty in a new way. God begins to be someone we think about often. Understanding more and more of Who He is in His Own nature becomes so rewarding. We begin to understand what life is all about. We become convinced that God is central to everything. All that ever has been, could be, and will be. And what is more all of my life is to, and through, and in, and out of, God.
We will begin our voyage of uncovering these massive truths about God by discussing His incomparability. Or this: God cannot be compared to anything. There is nothing like Him.
This morning, my goal is to guide you to see that there is nothing that can be compared to Him, and for that reality to not just be something we understand with our minds. We need to understand it with our minds so that it penetrates to our feelings and our desires.
Multiple times in Scripture, the writers mention God’s incomparability, and so we will look at one of those passages in some detail.
Psalm 86 is a prayer to God. As the Psalmist progresses, he confesses his need for God, and from that confession, comes a statement of confidence in Him.
Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. Psalm 86:8–10
We will look to this little text to help us reflect on our incomparable God. I will highlight a few big picture thoughts that we can find in this text.
No person or thing can do what God does.
Maybe the most obvious example of what God alone can do is creation. And that is what David refers to in verse 8. There are no works like His works.
I think we have a paradoxical problem with the material world. We think too much of created things, but we also think too little of it.
How do we think too little of the world around us? Well, we tend to think that material things are just matter. But that is not what David thinks about things.
When David sees a rose, what does he think of? He says, God, no one can make them like you. When holds a baby, no one can make them like you. When he sees his wife walking down the aisle, he says, no one can create like God can.
One of the weaknesses of living in an age where everything can be explained at our fingertips is that the world can cease to be wonderful. It looses its luster, its mystery. Add to that that we are hurried from one thing to the next so that we can be maximally productive and consume the maximum amount of entertainment, we do not have time to wonder at creation.
Does it really matter that I find creation special, Pastor Will? Does this really matter? God has chosen to reveal Himself in His creation. He wants us to see how glorious He is when we look at the sky. If we are to cultivate the ability to wonder at God for Who He is, we must be able to look at the sky and say, wow! Only God could do that!
So one of our problems is that we think too little of creation. The other problem is that we think too much of it! We come to believe that we can find satisfaction in the things themselves.
We confuse the sign for the destination. When coming back from the Cities on I-94 there is something exciting about seeing the sign for Moorhead. You see that before you see Fargo, at least when you are westbound on 94, leaving Minneapolis. What if, when I saw the sign, I pulled over and stopped right at that sign, and I started unloading my luggage after a vacation? You would say that I am crazy! The sign is not the destination.
And when we think we have found true life in anything other than, we are confusing the sign for the destination. When I devote too much time to things that do not matter, when pursuit of professional success becomes primary, I think too much of created things!
These things cannot ultimately satisfy you. There is nothing like Him because of what He does. In verse 10, we see this idea expanded from His workmanship in creation to all His works.
It is a godly skill to be able to marvel at God’s works, most of all, our salvation. A while ago, Mark Hulbert illustrated this by talking about a museum of salvation. With different exhibits being based on different aspects of salvation like justification, adoption, propitiation, and so on.
Now, please, don’t get me wrong. There is something very special about a young believer who is excited by the very basic Gospel. We should all praise God and wonder at being delivered from God’s wrath despite our sin!
But God’s desire is that our knowledge of Him and of His love for us in Christ would not just increase in feeling but also in understanding.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
It will look different for everyone, but everyone should be seeking to deepen your understanding of what God has done for us in Christ. The deeper that you can think about God’s work in salvation, the more that you can say that there is none like God! He is God alone!
All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. Psalm 145:10–13
God’s works are His way of teaching us about Who He is. God reveals Himself and tells us what kind of God He is by His works. His creation shows His beauty and His care. His salvation shows His love, His covenants display His faithfulness, His mercy toward us, His compassion and long suffering. His victories in battle and over sin show His might. Jesus’ resurrection shows His immeasurable power.
God’s works revealed to us both of creation and salvation, teach us about Who God is.
No person or thing is like God.
Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Psalm 86:8a
David speaks of “gods.” Whether he is referring to the gods of the near Eastern pagans, angelic powers, or other spiritual forces, the truth remains. There is nothing like God. We could never even imagine anything who is like God.
Most likely, David is referring to angelic or otherwise spiritual beings. It does not matter who they are, what they can do, or what they are like, they are not comparable to God. Even so, he may just as well have been referring to the idols of the pagans. In fact, another passage basically says the same thing about God’s incomparability to idols in Isaiah 40.
Isaiah writes this to God’s people, Judah. The nation is on the verge of collapse, and Isaiah is prophesying the exile to Babylon. Their nation will be conquered because they have rejected God. And despite their rebellion against God, God remains faithful to His promises to His people, so with the words of judgement, God also gives Isaiah words of comfort.
Listen to how He comforts them.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. Isaiah 40:12–15
These nations, these powers around you that seem to hold your life in their hands are nothing to me! You may think that because they threaten your life and have all this power that you should fear them, but are they like me?
This is why it is so important for us to think about Who God is! If our view of God is not big enough, the things that seem to dictate the flow of our lives will take His place. One major goal of this sermon series is for God to become bigger in our hearts and minds as a church.
Have you ever stood and looked at the ocean? I know we are lake people here so we might not get to the coast often, but you all know that is where I am from. There is just something special about the immensity of the ocean. It makes you feel small. Maybe some of you have been out at sea too, and when you are surrounded by nothing but ocean, seeing nothing but this water that keeps going further down than you could ever hope to swim, it just seems impossibly large. And this is just one ocean! Think of the power of just one wave that knocks you over on the shore!
Yet, this immense ocean is not just there to show you how big it is, we can take our amazement one step further: think of the One Who measured that in His hand! How immense must that God be! How powerful! How strong! How big!
How powerful is the United States? Think of all the terrible power we have! The amount of devastation we could bring with our bombs, our tanks, our planes? Our nuclear power! But, “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales.”
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. Isaiah 40:18–20
You see how foolish it is to trust in an idol. You see, in their uncertainty and the fear of the nations and armies around them, the people of Judah were tempted to turn to idols. But how can man’s creation ever be compared to the Creator? And to the rampant materialism and consumerism that makes up so much of our secular religion today, I say the same! How can the things and the toys and the houses and the cars and all that the free market offers ever compare to this God?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Isaiah 40:21–23
“To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. Isaiah 40:25–26
I want to ask you this question, and I believe this helps us to understand the concept that Isaiah, David, and even Moses are getting at when they ask the rhetorical question, Who is like God?
Does this God, that Isaiah describes in Isaiah 40, sound like a bigger, better version of us, or something completely different? Is the difference between us and God a matter of degrees or a matter of kinds?
Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:27–28
Our God is “other.” He is not like us. And friend, according Isaiah, that is not something that should make us feel He is distant. That is something that should comfort us.
A lot of us are probably familiar with C.S. Lewis’ book series, Narnia. I hear they are going to make another TV or movie series about that. Can’t wait for them to ruin it.
The most popular book in that series is called, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I highly recommend the whole series if you have not read it. The lion, you may very well know, is named Aslan. In the story, Aslan is kind of a symbol or another hypothetical “supposal” as Lewis called it, of Christ.
"Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
We live in a time with an unfortunate trend. To make God just a bigger, and better version of us or other objects of worship. We don’t often think often about how God is unlike us. The problem is that this is not Who God is. God is not “safe.” He does not fit in a box so our lives can stay just how they are. This God, Who is unlike anything else, demands that everything change. If this God is truly incomparable, outside of time, needing no one or nothing, unchanging, and incomprehensible, then He must be the center of everything.
Worship God alone.
And in every passage that we could find about God’s incomparability, that is to be the response to this God is totally of another kind: worship Him and Him alone.
We will notice three ways that David worships God in his prayer.
In dependence upon Him.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. Psalm 86:6–7
An intrinsic part of worship is dependence. God has always desired that man would trust His Word. In fact, this is what it means for us to “trust Christ.” This is dependence! An unworried heart and mind, relying on God to provide and guide us is a life of worship!
David saw that there is no one like God and so he prayed to God, fully depending on Him for deliverance, provision, and guidance.
And so David also worshipped God...
In obedience to Him.
David’s immediate response to this God Who is God alone is this prayer:
Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11
This God who does what no one else can do because He is like no one else must teach me! He has chosen to reveal Himself by telling me how to live! I have to do what He says!
He says he wants to fear God, or He wants to show that He recognizes Who God is in how he lives his life!
In praise of Him.
I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Psalm 86:12–13
This sermon series on the attributes of God is really a series on theology. How do you feel about theology? Is it stuffy? Something for the white color crowd or pastors? I think for some of us, theology might seem like a good pastime if you’re interested, but in general, it is kind of pointless.
David was a shepherd. A warrior. A king. Those are not jobs in the humanities. David was a man of substance. He worked with his hands and led men. Nothing about his life and work were theoretical. It was all very tangible. However, for David, His theology was quite practical. His theology led to dependence, upon God, to obedience to Him, and lastly to praise of Him. HIs theology led to doxology.
That is where good theology leads us.
Conclusion
God’s “otherness,” or His being a different kind of being from us, could make us feel like He is distant. Like He is unknowable or irrelevant. But the exact opposite is true! His otherness is exactly what should attract us to Him! This is what we were made for! We were created to find this ultimate and infinite person! Aren’t we always searching for excellence? Aren’t we attracted to the best?
God is excellent in His excellence. His glory is glorious. He is the ultimate superlative! There nothing higher or better than Him. As we marvel at His wondrous works, let us see Who He is and worship Him.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Have you ever said that? Have you ever felt that way?
This is a common human experience. We say things like this expression when we think about being far away from those whom we love. We start to appreciate people and relationships more when they are not as near as they used to be. We stop taking them for granted.
The gap between us and another person increases our appreciation of them.
And that is what I would like to do in this sermon series. No, God is not far from them that seek Him. In fact, that will be a topic we cover, God’s Immanence or His nearness to us. But there is a gap that when we grasp its depth and width, should cause us to love and worship in a more complete way. It is not a gap of relational distance, but of nature. Of essence. This gap tells us one very important thing. “God is not like us.”
What I pray for this sermon, and the rest of this series is that we would see God for Who He is. And in so doing, recognize wow. God is not like me. In fact, God is more unlike me than He is like me. But we should not conclude that therefore God is cold or unknowable. In fact, we should be even more amazed that this God wants to know us.
We should rejoice that He has revealed Himself to us by His Son, Jesus Christ. The God that is so different, so unlike us, has condescended and made Himself knowable to us! That in and of itself is miraculous! It would take an infinitely powerful and wise being to make it possible for finite and, yes, even defective creatures to know their infinitely grand and good Creator.
And so not only are we grateful for His love and deepened in our appreciation of Him, but as we begin to understand how different God is, how much better He is than anything else, we enjoy His beauty in a new way. God begins to be someone we think about often. Understanding more and more of Who He is in His Own nature becomes so rewarding. We begin to understand what life is all about. We become convinced that God is central to everything. All that ever has been, could be, and will be. And what is more all of my life is to, and through, and in, and out of, God.
We will begin our voyage of uncovering these massive truths about God by discussing His incomparability. Or this: God cannot be compared to anything. There is nothing like Him.
This morning, my goal is to guide you to see that there is nothing that can be compared to Him, and for that reality to not just be something we understand with our minds. We need to understand it with our minds so that it penetrates to our feelings and our desires.
Multiple times in Scripture, the writers mention God’s incomparability, and so we will look at one of those passages in some detail.
Psalm 86 is a prayer to God. As the Psalmist progresses, he confesses his need for God, and from that confession, comes a statement of confidence in Him.
Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Nor are there any works like Your works. All nations whom You have made Shall come and worship before You, O Lord, And shall glorify Your name. For You are great, and do wondrous things; You alone are God. Psalm 86:8–10
We will look to this little text to help us reflect on our incomparable God. I will highlight a few big picture thoughts that we can find in this text.
No person or thing can do what God does.
Maybe the most obvious example of what God alone can do is creation. And that is what David refers to in verse 8. There are no works like His works.
I think we have a paradoxical problem with the material world. We think too much of created things, but we also think too little of it.
How do we think too little of the world around us? Well, we tend to think that material things are just matter. But that is not what David thinks about things.
When David sees a rose, what does he think of? He says, God, no one can make them like you. When holds a baby, no one can make them like you. When he sees his wife walking down the aisle, he says, no one can create like God can.
One of the weaknesses of living in an age where everything can be explained at our fingertips is that the world can cease to be wonderful. It looses its luster, its mystery. Add to that that we are hurried from one thing to the next so that we can be maximally productive and consume the maximum amount of entertainment, we do not have time to wonder at creation.
Does it really matter that I find creation special, Pastor Will? Does this really matter? God has chosen to reveal Himself in His creation. He wants us to see how glorious He is when we look at the sky. If we are to cultivate the ability to wonder at God for Who He is, we must be able to look at the sky and say, wow! Only God could do that!
So one of our problems is that we think too little of creation. The other problem is that we think too much of it! We come to believe that we can find satisfaction in the things themselves.
We confuse the sign for the destination. When coming back from the Cities on I-94 there is something exciting about seeing the sign for Moorhead. You see that before you see Fargo, at least when you are westbound on 94, leaving Minneapolis. What if, when I saw the sign, I pulled over and stopped right at that sign, and I started unloading my luggage after a vacation? You would say that I am crazy! The sign is not the destination.
And when we think we have found true life in anything other than, we are confusing the sign for the destination. When I devote too much time to things that do not matter, when pursuit of professional success becomes primary, I think too much of created things!
These things cannot ultimately satisfy you. There is nothing like Him because of what He does. In verse 10, we see this idea expanded from His workmanship in creation to all His works.
It is a godly skill to be able to marvel at God’s works, most of all, our salvation. A while ago, Mark Hulbert illustrated this by talking about a museum of salvation. With different exhibits being based on different aspects of salvation like justification, adoption, propitiation, and so on.
Now, please, don’t get me wrong. There is something very special about a young believer who is excited by the very basic Gospel. We should all praise God and wonder at being delivered from God’s wrath despite our sin!
But God’s desire is that our knowledge of Him and of His love for us in Christ would not just increase in feeling but also in understanding.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2
It will look different for everyone, but everyone should be seeking to deepen your understanding of what God has done for us in Christ. The deeper that you can think about God’s work in salvation, the more that you can say that there is none like God! He is God alone!
All Your works shall praise You, O Lord, And Your saints shall bless You. They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power, To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations. Psalm 145:10–13
God’s works are His way of teaching us about Who He is. God reveals Himself and tells us what kind of God He is by His works. His creation shows His beauty and His care. His salvation shows His love, His covenants display His faithfulness, His mercy toward us, His compassion and long suffering. His victories in battle and over sin show His might. Jesus’ resurrection shows His immeasurable power.
God’s works revealed to us both of creation and salvation, teach us about Who God is.
No person or thing is like God.
Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord; Psalm 86:8a
David speaks of “gods.” Whether he is referring to the gods of the near Eastern pagans, angelic powers, or other spiritual forces, the truth remains. There is nothing like God. We could never even imagine anything who is like God.
Most likely, David is referring to angelic or otherwise spiritual beings. It does not matter who they are, what they can do, or what they are like, they are not comparable to God. Even so, he may just as well have been referring to the idols of the pagans. In fact, another passage basically says the same thing about God’s incomparability to idols in Isaiah 40.
Isaiah writes this to God’s people, Judah. The nation is on the verge of collapse, and Isaiah is prophesying the exile to Babylon. Their nation will be conquered because they have rejected God. And despite their rebellion against God, God remains faithful to His promises to His people, so with the words of judgement, God also gives Isaiah words of comfort.
Listen to how He comforts them.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, Measured heaven with a span And calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales And the hills in a balance? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has taught Him? With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, And taught Him in the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge, And showed Him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, And are counted as the small dust on the scales; Look, He lifts up the isles as a very little thing. Isaiah 40:12–15
These nations, these powers around you that seem to hold your life in their hands are nothing to me! You may think that because they threaten your life and have all this power that you should fear them, but are they like me?
This is why it is so important for us to think about Who God is! If our view of God is not big enough, the things that seem to dictate the flow of our lives will take His place. One major goal of this sermon series is for God to become bigger in our hearts and minds as a church.
Have you ever stood and looked at the ocean? I know we are lake people here so we might not get to the coast often, but you all know that is where I am from. There is just something special about the immensity of the ocean. It makes you feel small. Maybe some of you have been out at sea too, and when you are surrounded by nothing but ocean, seeing nothing but this water that keeps going further down than you could ever hope to swim, it just seems impossibly large. And this is just one ocean! Think of the power of just one wave that knocks you over on the shore!
Yet, this immense ocean is not just there to show you how big it is, we can take our amazement one step further: think of the One Who measured that in His hand! How immense must that God be! How powerful! How strong! How big!
How powerful is the United States? Think of all the terrible power we have! The amount of devastation we could bring with our bombs, our tanks, our planes? Our nuclear power! But, “Behold, the nations are as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales.”
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? The workman molds an image, The goldsmith overspreads it with gold, And the silversmith casts silver chains. Whoever is too impoverished for such a contribution Chooses a tree that will not rot; He seeks for himself a skillful workman To prepare a carved image that will not totter. Isaiah 40:18–20
You see how foolish it is to trust in an idol. You see, in their uncertainty and the fear of the nations and armies around them, the people of Judah were tempted to turn to idols. But how can man’s creation ever be compared to the Creator? And to the rampant materialism and consumerism that makes up so much of our secular religion today, I say the same! How can the things and the toys and the houses and the cars and all that the free market offers ever compare to this God?
Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Isaiah 40:21–23
“To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing. Isaiah 40:25–26
I want to ask you this question, and I believe this helps us to understand the concept that Isaiah, David, and even Moses are getting at when they ask the rhetorical question, Who is like God?
Does this God, that Isaiah describes in Isaiah 40, sound like a bigger, better version of us, or something completely different? Is the difference between us and God a matter of degrees or a matter of kinds?
Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: “My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by my God”? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. Isaiah 40:27–28
Our God is “other.” He is not like us. And friend, according Isaiah, that is not something that should make us feel He is distant. That is something that should comfort us.
A lot of us are probably familiar with C.S. Lewis’ book series, Narnia. I hear they are going to make another TV or movie series about that. Can’t wait for them to ruin it.
The most popular book in that series is called, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I highly recommend the whole series if you have not read it. The lion, you may very well know, is named Aslan. In the story, Aslan is kind of a symbol or another hypothetical “supposal” as Lewis called it, of Christ.
"Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
We live in a time with an unfortunate trend. To make God just a bigger, and better version of us or other objects of worship. We don’t often think often about how God is unlike us. The problem is that this is not Who God is. God is not “safe.” He does not fit in a box so our lives can stay just how they are. This God, Who is unlike anything else, demands that everything change. If this God is truly incomparable, outside of time, needing no one or nothing, unchanging, and incomprehensible, then He must be the center of everything.
Worship God alone.
And in every passage that we could find about God’s incomparability, that is to be the response to this God is totally of another kind: worship Him and Him alone.
We will notice three ways that David worships God in his prayer.
In dependence upon Him.
Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me. Psalm 86:6–7
An intrinsic part of worship is dependence. God has always desired that man would trust His Word. In fact, this is what it means for us to “trust Christ.” This is dependence! An unworried heart and mind, relying on God to provide and guide us is a life of worship!
David saw that there is no one like God and so he prayed to God, fully depending on Him for deliverance, provision, and guidance.
And so David also worshipped God...
In obedience to Him.
David’s immediate response to this God Who is God alone is this prayer:
Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. Psalm 86:11
This God who does what no one else can do because He is like no one else must teach me! He has chosen to reveal Himself by telling me how to live! I have to do what He says!
He says he wants to fear God, or He wants to show that He recognizes Who God is in how he lives his life!
In praise of Him.
I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Psalm 86:12–13
This sermon series on the attributes of God is really a series on theology. How do you feel about theology? Is it stuffy? Something for the white color crowd or pastors? I think for some of us, theology might seem like a good pastime if you’re interested, but in general, it is kind of pointless.
David was a shepherd. A warrior. A king. Those are not jobs in the humanities. David was a man of substance. He worked with his hands and led men. Nothing about his life and work were theoretical. It was all very tangible. However, for David, His theology was quite practical. His theology led to dependence, upon God, to obedience to Him, and lastly to praise of Him. HIs theology led to doxology.
That is where good theology leads us.
Conclusion
God’s “otherness,” or His being a different kind of being from us, could make us feel like He is distant. Like He is unknowable or irrelevant. But the exact opposite is true! His otherness is exactly what should attract us to Him! This is what we were made for! We were created to find this ultimate and infinite person! Aren’t we always searching for excellence? Aren’t we attracted to the best?
God is excellent in His excellence. His glory is glorious. He is the ultimate superlative! There nothing higher or better than Him. As we marvel at His wondrous works, let us see Who He is and worship Him.
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The First Two Woes of RevelationThe Blessing of WorkThe Four GospelsThe Book of ActsAnother Dramatic IntermissionThe Blessing of MarriageThe Making of a Godly Man, Family, Church & CommunityThe Two WitnessesPaul's Letters & TravelsThe Tragic Entrance of SinThe Sad Effects of SinThe Jerusalem Council and The Epistle of Galatians
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