Verse
of the day: Exodus 15:11 “Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like
You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”
In
this chapter, we read the song of praise that Moses and the Israelites sang to
God after He delivered them out of the hands of Pharaoh and his army. How many
of us can say that we continually have a song of praise in our hearts for our
God? Do we only have a song in our hearts during the good times, or do we sing
praises to Him regardless of what our circumstances look like? Sadly, we are
too much like the Israelites in the wilderness, who one minute are singing
praises to God, but the moment things start going sideways in our lives we
begin to murmur and complain. Now we see them sing a song of praise, but within
three days, they were complaining (v. 24). This particular verse, in this song
of Moses, tells us much in respect to why we need to praise God in both the
good and bad times. We should not let challenging circumstances and
tribulations change our song. “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods?” Who is
like unto our God? What can the other gods in our lives (person, money, social
status, material goods, or whatever other gods we have made for ourselves) do
for us that God has done, is doing, or will do for us? The short answer?
Nothing! Our God is glorious in holiness, or absent of all evil. Our God is
magnificent, honorable, and majestic in His holiness. In other words, our God
is just, perfect, and will never do, or allow, anything in our lives that is
unholy, unfair, or unjust. All that God does, and allows, in our lives is
always for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28-29). There are those time that
we do not understand why God is allowing certain things to take place in our
lives, but this we can know with all certainty: God always has a purpose for
all that He allows us to experience in our walk with Him. He is always with us
through it all (Hebrews 13:5-6), and His plan for our life is perfect, because
He is perfect in holiness. 1 Samuel 2:2 puts it this way, “There is none holy
as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our
God.” Moses and the Israelites have seen the wonderful, matchless, glory of God
leading them, and protecting them. They have witnessed wonders that the gods of
Egypt had not performed, or could ever perform. What other response could they
have to what they have witnessed, and experienced, other than fearfully, and
reverently, praise Him? It is sad to see that today, we have far too many born
again believers that do not reverently praise God. We have allowed the gods in
our lives rob God of the praise that only He deserves. We have become more
dependent on money, riches, material goods, and our own ability to provide for
ourselves, and our families, overshadow the fact that it is God who gives us
the health, and strength, to get up each day to earn those things. We have
allowed the busyness of life blind us to the wonders that God is continually
working in our lives. Our God is still a God of miracles. Every time He answers
a prayer, a miracle has taken place. We have become desensitized to God’s
miraculous wonders in our lives. We have overlooked the small wonders, which
are truly great wonders, because they did not come packaged the way we expect.
Have you ever experienced God’s life giving power? If you have ever witnessed
the birth of a baby, and studied what happens as that baby develops at each
stage of pregnancy, then you have witnessed a marvelous wonder! Have you ever
seen a glimpse of God’s power in nature? If you have stopped and paid attention
during a lightning and thunderstorm, you have gotten a glimpse, on a small
scale, in comparison to other storms, of the power of God that terrifies the
bravest of men. It is a marvelous wonder! Have you ever experienced the touch
of God? If you have ever seen a fluttering butterfly, and have had one gently
land on your hand, then you have experienced that touch. The marvel of a not-so-attractive
caterpillar, transformed into this beautiful, delicate, creature. It is a
marvelous wonder! Our God is glorious in holiness, and will never do, or allow,
anything in our lives that is contrary to His nature. If we would just stop and
look around us, we would see His marvelous wonders all around us. This should
bring us to a place in our walk with Him that causes us to reverently praise
Him for who He is, more than for what He does or does not do in our lives. The
greatest wonder He has performed in our lives that alone deserves eternal
praise is how He has called us out of darkness to His light, in Christ Jesus
(Ephesians 5:8; 1 Peter 2:9). Just like He parted the Red Sea to make a way for
the Israelites, He has parted the flames of Hell, and made a way of escape for
us in Christ (John 3:16; Romans 6:23). Do we need any other reason to fearfully
praise Him for the wonder of who He is?
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