Think about it. Who will you compare God with?
- celebrities?
- wooden statues?
- corporate executives?
- government leaders?
- sports heroes?
- kings’ palaces?
- idols of any kind?
- academic institutions?
- the list could go on and on
Let me suggest these truths:
- God is the Eternal King.
- He is the creator and sustainer of the universe
- He is the source of all wisdom and justice
- He is sovereign over all the nations
- No idol compares with Him.
- God has no equal.
As you read the verses below, notice these truths embedded in the text.
God is the Eternal King. For the nation of Israel, the threat of the Assyrian and Babylonian armies was real. In the midst of their fear, God spoke to them words of hope: He is the Eternal King, and long after the Assyrian and Babylonian kings have come and gone, God will still be on His throne. We can take great comfort in these words, even in the midst of the geo-political climate in the world today, with terrorist threats and nations fighting against nations. God is the Eternal King. Verses 12-17 and 21-24 tell us all about how great He is.
No idol compares to God. It sounds ludicrous that you would actually take a piece of wood, carve it into a shape, put gold or other precious metals on it, then bow down to worship it, thinking it had any powers. But people do that all of the time. Sometimes those idols are statues, sometimes they are cars or houses, sometimes they are precious stones, sometimes they are types of currency. People worship lots of different things. The bottom line is that anything that is more important to you that God is an idol in your life. No idol compares with God. Worship Him only. Remove the idols from your life. Verses 18-20 talk about how idols do not compare to God.
God has no equal. No philosopher, teacher, scientist, scholar, engineer, doctor, artist, politician, soldier, businessman, or anyone else or anything else compares with God. He is the greatest. He knows how many stars are in the sky (He created them!) and He can call them all by name. Verses 25-26 encourage you to walk outside at night, take a look at the stars, and marvel at how awesome God is.
or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand?
Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure
or weighed the mountains in a balance
and the hills in the scales?
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord,
or who gave Him His counsel?
14 Who did He consult with?
Who gave Him understanding
and taught Him the paths of justice?
Who taught Him knowledge
and showed Him the way of understanding?
15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales;
He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Lebanon is not enough for fuel,
or its animals enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him;
they are considered by Him
as nothingness and emptiness.18 Who will you compare God with?
What likeness will you compare Him to?
19 To an idol?—something that a smelter casts,
and a metalworker plates with gold
and makes silver welds for it?
20 To one who shapes a pedestal,
choosing wood that does not rot?
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not fall over.21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you
from the beginning?
Have you not considered
the foundations of the earth?
22 God is enthroned above the circle of the earth;
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
23 He reduces princes to nothing
and makes judges of the earth irrational.
24 They are barely planted, barely sown,
their stem hardly takes root in the ground
when He blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind carries them away like stubble.
25 “Who will you compare Me to,
or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
26 Look up and see:
who created these?
He brings out the starry host by number;
He calls all of them by name.
Because of His great power and strength,
not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:12-26)
Response:
- God is the Eternal King — Know Him, trust Him, and follow His ways.
- No idols compare with God — remove all idols from your life.
- God has no equal — go outside at night, look up at the stars, and marvel at God’s grandeur — and while you’re at it, take somebody with you!