Note: Below is a brief excerpt from last Sunday morning’s sermon on David’s prayer in 2 Samuel 7:18-29.
“Wherefore thou art
great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God
beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Samuel 7:22).
Not
only does David praise God here for his greatness, but he also praises God for
his incomparability. When realtors
prepare a house for the market they search for comparable properties in order
to assess the value of the house. For
God there are no comparables: “for there
is none like thee.”
Neither
are there any gods to compare to the one true God. Some secular scholars have wrongly argued
that the earliest Old Testament authors were not monotheists (believing in one
God) but henotheists (believing in a god who is superior to other gods). They even cite the first commandment as part
of their evidence for this (“Thou shalt have no other gods before me” [Exodus 20:3]). David, however, knows no such henotheistic
theory. There is one God and there are
no other gods beside him! David is an
atheist with respect to pagan gods.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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