A God Like No Other

This morning, I would rather be sleeping in than drinking coffee and reading my Bible so early in the morning.  I am, after all, on vacation!  Kellah, however, didn't get that memo and woke up ready to go at 6 am!  And so, here I am on the computer typing away while she plays contentedly with all sorts of new and interesting things in our room at the resort (all made possible by a generous friend who gave us a few days of his timeshare!).

I have been reading both the Psalm and Proverb of the day, so I started out in Psalm 18.  David opens with:

I love You, Lord; You are my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my Savior;

my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.

He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold.

I will call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

for He saves me from my enemies.

He continues to describe the awesomeness of God, His faithfulness, His power, and His goodness.  

To the faithful You show Yourself faithful;

to those with integrity You show integrity.

To the pure, You show Yourself pure,

but to the wicked You show Yourself hostile.

You rescue those who are humble,

but You humiliate the proud.

Lord, You have brought light to my life;

my God, You light up my darkness.

In Your strength I can crush an army;

with my God I can scale any wall.

David has personally experienced God at work in his life.  He knows that God alone is responsible for leading and directing him, for blessing him and giving him victory.  And in response, he simply must share what God has done and praise Him for it.

As for God, His way is perfect.

All the Lord's promises prove true.

He is a shield for all who look to Him for protection.

For who is God except the Lord?

Who but our God is a solid rock?

God arms me with strength;

He has made my way safe.

He makes me surefooted as a deer,

leading me safely along the mountain heights.

He prepares me for battle;

He strengthens me to draw a bow of bronze.

You have given me the shield of Your salvation.

Your right hand supports me;

Your gentleness has made me great.

You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.

He keeps going, describing how  God is obviously responsible for his success as king.  In his excitement, he seemingly shouts for all to hear:

The Lord lives!

Blessed be my rock!

May the God of my salvation be exalted!

At this point, I have the hymn running through my head, along with the praise song we sing at church from time to time: Who is like Him?  The lion and the lamb...

Then, I turn in my Bible to Proverbs 18 and read in verse 10, "The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe."  I love how this verse stood out to me, connecting with what David had said about God in Psalm 18.  

Guess what the verse of the day was on my phone.  Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."

I'm getting the idea that God wants me to under His strength and power, the way He displays those in my life as He works in and through me to accomplish His good and perfect plans.  I am already overwhelmed with this concept, thinking of the many ways God has made Himself known in my life recently with the selling of our house and the purchase of our new home.  As if to seal the deal, I begin to read in Ephesians, where I happen to be in the New Testament at the time.

Paul is praying for the believers in Ephesus, and his prayer couldn't be more fitting based on the Scripture passages I have already read this morning:

I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, 

so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand 

the wonderful future He has promised to those He called.

I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance He has given to His people.

I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power 

for us who believe Him.

This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead 

and seated Him in the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms.

Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader 

or anything else in this world or the world to come.

And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, 

and He gave him this authority for the benefit of the church.

And the church is His body; it is filled by Christ, who fills everything with His presence.

I come back to the question David asked in Psalm 18, "For who is God except the Lord?"  And the answer is the same, NO ONE.  No body even comes close to comparing to God and what He can do.  People can worship other gods; they can bow to statues; they can make things like TV and money and prestige and power their idols (without even knowing it).  BUT, no one and no thing is like our God.  He is far better, far more powerful, far more everything than any god we could create with our hands or minds.

And so, I join with David, shouting His praise and joining the song, "Praise Adonai!"  Literally, from the rising of the sun this morning, I have been overwhelmed with His goodness, His faithfulness, and His power that is evident in my life.