"For The LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but The LORD made the heavens." [Psa 96:4-5]
The word great means, “expressing a large, extensive, or unusual degree of any thing…[important…momentous]…[highest in office or rank; principal]…” [Webster] When considering all the powers in heaven and upon earth, and even under the earth, we must frankly conclude – and to no surprise to us – that God The LORD is great above all. There is no power nor authority, there is no strength nor able-body which could match or exceed our Heavenly Father. There is no active power today, nor ancient power of yesterday, no, nor is there anyone or anything in all of existence, which could even come within even ten thousand degrees of magnitude to God as it relates to His blessed character. Whatever scope is taken, whatever attribute of God one delves into, whatever angle is viewed: it is no matter, for “The LORD is great,” [Psa 96:4] and thus all others are not. And again, “thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.” [Psa 86:10] To take God’s greatness even further, The Holy Spirit tells us, “great is The LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable.” [Psa 145:3] The LORD’s greatness, His extensiveness, His importance, His office and rank – any definition or synonym of great – are likewise described here as “unsearchable.” The word “unsearchable” literally means, “without investigation.” Investigation means, “…a careful inquiry to find out what is unknown…” [Webster] Thus, we can see that God’s greatness is so vast, so expansive, so utterly momentous in its nature, that there is no possibility of ever inquiring to find out its total height or length or depth or breadth. In the same fashion to the surpassing work of Christ’s death and resurrection, it could be said too of God’s greatness, “thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” [2 Cor 9:15] As Job’s friend rightly said,
“Canst thou by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? [He] is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? Deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure [of God] is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea.” [Job 11:7-9]
“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” [Rom 11:33] Because God is so great, He is worthy of great praise and great fear. He is “greatly to be praised, [and] He is to be feared above all gods.” Today, let us meditate upon God’s greatness, let us remember that it is He who has “made the heavens,” and it is God who “created the heaven and the earth.” [Gen 1:1] From out of nothing, while there was none to help Him, neither in deed, thought, encouragement, strength, or any such things; yes, by Himself, The LORD made the heavens and the earth. As The LORD Himself says, “see now that I, even I, Am He, and there is no god with me…” [Deut 32:29] And again,
“For thus saith The LORD that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I Am The LORD; and there is none else.” [Isa 45:18]
There is no god, nor is there any man, who could ever exalt themselves to our God’s position. As Job, who though he was being heavily afflicted, grew in pride and entitlement, learned from God – who said to him quite bluntly,
“Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.” [Job 38:3-4]
Truly, our Father is great above all: greatly to be praised and feared. Yes, as it is written, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before The LORD our Maker.” [Psa 95:6]
But though God is so great, so far above all men, women, and spiritual powers, yet He is a God of love, who cares for us. Though we are “poor and needy; yet The LORD thinketh upon [us];” yes, though we are like Jacob and “not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which [The LORD] hast shewed unto [us],” [Gen 32:10] yet, “[The LORD’s] thoughts which are to us-ward…are more than can be numbered.” [Psa 40:17, 5] And our Father’s thoughts regarding us, which “are more in number than the sand,” [Psa 139:18] are through-and-through “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give [us] a future and a hope.” [Jer 29:11] God is far above us, exceedingly great. And yet, in all His greatness, He still loves us, still thinks about us, still cares for us. He humbles Himself to look at us with a tender countenance, as we are promised: “He will turn again, He will behold us with the tenderest affection;” [Mic 7:18] and as it says in Psalms,
“The LORD is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens. Who is like unto The LORD our God, who dwelleth on high, who humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!” [Psa 113:4-6]
In our verse today, we are reminded that “The LORD made the heavens.” The stars, galaxies, nebulae, planets, asteroids, black holes, and if there be any other object or beauty in space, were all created “by the breath of His mouth.” [Psa 33:6] The same mouth which breathes on us and gives us of His Spirit, the same mouth which speaks love and forgiveness to us, that same great and powerful mouth which “spake, and it was done; [which] commanded, and it stood fast,” [Psa 33:9] is the same God which takes thought for us. When we gaze upon the stars, when we research and learn of the seemingly infinite distances and inescapably powerful testimony of the heavenly host, whose “line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world,” [Psa 19:4] truly we must come in feeble awe at God’s love. As David writes,
“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou art mindful of Him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” [Psa 8:3-4]
And again, “LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!” [Psa 144:3] Though as The Holy Spirit says, “man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away,” [Psa 144:4] yet God, though He is eternal and strong, thinks upon us and loves us. Though we are feeble and weak, and though “heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain [God],” [2 Ch 6:18] yet He has chosen to dwell in our hearts by faith. Though “all nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity,” [Isa 40:17] yet for those who put their trust in Christ, He thinks upon us and hears our prayers; and even further, though we are as “a worm,” [Job 25:6] yet God “raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill; that He may set him with princes, even with the princes of His people.” [Psa 113:7-8] Truly as it is written, “what is man, that [The LORD] shouldest magnify him? And that [He] shouldest set [His] heart upon him?” [Job 7:17] As believers in The Lord Jesus, we hold an incredibly special and unique place. Once lowly sinners, dead dogs, strangers, and foreigners, without hope and without God – yea, though we were altogether born in sin and dead in sin, yet The LORD thought kindly upon us and saved us: sought us out and drew us in, lifting us up by His very own blood out of the pit wherein is no water but only miry clay, and set us up upon The Rock. May God be praised for His lavish and abundant grace, mercy, and love, which He has showed us through His Son, Jesus Christ.
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