Psalm 86:8 Among the gods there is none like to you, O Lord; neither are there any works like to your works. Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord. It may be asked Why should God be compared with gods that Scripture so vigorously declares are no gods? It is enough to reply that all teachers must come down to the level of those whom they would teach; and begin by accepting their ideas in order to lead them on and up to higher and worthier. Calvin puts this point well. "Should any one assert that it is unseemly to compare God to the empty fictions, the answer is easy; the discourse is accommodated to the ignorance of men, because we know how daringly superstitious men raise their whims above the heavens." The psalmist has in view a basis of comparison which is foreign to our mode of thinking. In his day the deities were conceived as limited and local beings, who belonged to particular countries. If the general name Baal was used, some qualifying name was added, which indicated the Baal worshipped in a particular district. With this idea in their minds, men might say of Jehovah, "He is only the God of Palestine." This view of God the whole Bible vigorously protests against, and claims for Jehovah sole Divinity; he is out of the range of so called "gods;" he cannot be compared with any. This subject may be opened out, with present day applications, by showing that - I. God is incomparable as the ONLY UNCAUSED BEING. II. God is incomparable as an UNSEEN SPIRITUAL BEING. III. God is incomparable as an INFINITELY HOLY BEING. IV. God is incomparable as the ONE BEING WHO CLAIMS UNIVERSAL HOMAGE. V. God is incomparable as the BEING WHO HAS ABSOLUTE POWER OVER ALL THINGS. VI. God is the BEING WHO REQUIRES A SERVICE OF CHARACTER, expressed in act and conduct - not of conduct alone. Scriptures dwell on this uniqueness of God (see Exodus 15:11; Deuteronomy 3:24; Isaiah 40. etc.). Being what he is, God alone, God all-mighty, God all-holy, he rightly claims that we should love him and serve him, "with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength." He must be first with us, because he stands forth before us as incomparable. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works.WEB: There is no one like you among the gods, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds. |
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