No one is like you, Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols (Jeremiah 10:6-8 NIV).
God is incomparable. This attribute of God can be considered under different names, such as God’s majesty or solitariness or uniqueness. But all emphasize the same truth—God is great, far greater than all that he has created. We cannot compare him to anyone one or anything. All fail before his greatness. “Comparatively few of those who occasionally read the Bible are aware of the awe-inspiring and worship-provoking grandeur of the Divine character. That God is great in wisdom, wondrous in power, yet full of mercy, is assumed by many to be almost common knowledge; but, to entertain anything approaching an adequate conception of His being, His nature, His attributes, as these are revealed in Holy Scripture, is something which very, very few people in these degenerate times have attained unto” (Pink, The Attributes of God, p. 1). So then, we need to listen with reverence to what God tells us about his incomparable nature (Exodus 15:11; Deuteronomy 33:26-28; Psalm 35:9-10; 71:19; 86:8, 10; 113:4-6; Isaiah 55:8-9; Jeremiah 10:6-8, 14-16), and his majesty (Psalm 93:1; 145:5; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 2 Peter 1:16).
An important passage about God’s unique greatness is Isaiah 40:9-31. “Here God speaks to people whose mood is the mood of many Christians today—despondent people, cowed people, secretly despairing people; people against whom the tide of events has been running for a very long time; people who have ceased to believe that the cause of Christ can ever prosper again” (Packer, Knowing God, p.77). Packer continues by pointing out how the consideration of God’s incomparable greatness can help us get out of such moods.
- Look at the tasks God has done (40:12-14). Who is like the Lord?
- Look at the nations God has made (40:15-17). Who is like the Lord?
- Look at the world God has created (40:21-22). Who is like the Lord?
- Look at the greatest of humanity that God has made in his image (40:23-24). Who is like the Lord?
- Look at the stars God created and rules over (40:26). Who is like the Lord?
In other words, God says, “Consider how incomparable I am” (40:18, 25)! Luther told Erasmus, “the prince of humanists” that Erasmus’ “thoughts of God are too human”. Not only Erasmus, but all who breathe should consider that God knows us (40:27) and is fully capable to supply our every need (40:28-31).
Let us search our own thoughts and ideas about God. Do we understand his unique being, that there is no one like the Lord God? Or do we “remake” God to be able to be understood by us, or what is similar, to meet our approval? The worship of God is not like shopping for a new house or car. Frankly, he does not need or concern himself with our approval. Instead, he demands that we change our minds to think about him as he has revealed himself to us in his word, the Bible.
Grace and peace, David