“Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” Exodus 15:11 (NIV)
After God miraculously parted the Red Sea so the people of Israel could escape from the army that had been pursuing them, they began to sing to God to thank him. A key part of their song asks the above questions recorded in Exodus 15:11.
Think about that first part: “Who among the gods is like you, Lord?” The people singing this had just left behind slavery in Egypt. Egypt was full of statues of many different gods – gods for the sun, the river, the harvest, and many more. Even the king, Pharaoh, was thought of as a god. But the living God had just shown everyone that those gods had no real power. The people of Israel saw with their own eyes that their God, who rescued them, was tremendously powerful!
Today, we don’t bow down to statues, but we can still have idols by devoting ourselves more to something else than God. We can treat money, our jobs, a romantic relationship, or even a hobby as what’s most important in life. If we have idols in our lives, we rely on them to make us feel happy or safe. But today’s idols are like the false gods of Egypt. They promise a lot, but they can’t deliver what truly matters. Money can disappear, jobs can end, relationships can break – and we can lose just about anything, except God’s love. So, the question comes back to us: Can anything we chase after truly compare to our loving Heavenly Father? No, it can’t.
Then the song describes God as “majestic in holiness.” Holiness means God is perfectly good, completely pure, and totally separate from anything wrong or evil. God is goodness itself. Think about the most wonderful thing you can imagine – God's goodness is infinitely more than that. Majestic means God’s perfect goodness is incredibly impressive and beautiful. It makes God stand out. The false gods people worshipped long ago and the idols we’re tempted to put first in our lives today aren’t nearly so good. They have flaws. But God is always perfectly good.
The song then calls God “awesome in glory.” Glory refers to God’s wondrously powerful presence. When people in the Bible experienced God’s glory, they were filled with awe – a feeling of overwhelming inspiration from encountering how wonderful God is. When we think about how God is awesome in glory, we get a sense of how big and powerful God is in comparison to us, and how God chooses to use his unlimited power for good. We end up worshiping any idols in our lives – even if we don’t realize that we’re doing so – because we devote ourselves more to them than we do to our Creator who loves us completely. Idols don’t have God’s awesome glory. We need to remind ourselves regularly of how truly awesome and important God is. God is much more important than anything else!
Finally, the song celebrates that God is “working wonders.” The people who were singing knew this was true because they had just walked through a sea that God had miraculously parted for them. That was a wonder that only God could do. Our God is always active. All we have to do is pay attention to the wonder of God’s work in our daily lives. God is constantly doing wonderful things we can discover and celebrate! Whatever idols we may sometimes be tempted to trust can’t do these kinds of wonders – and they can’t give us eternal hope. We worship God because he is the living God who has shown his love for us in the most wonderful way possible: by saving our souls.
Only God is worthy of our worship!
Let’s pray:
Dear God, there is truly no one and nothing that can compare to you! Thank you for being majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, and working wonders. Please forgive me for the times I’ve looked to other things to make me feel happy or safe, and for when I’ve devoted more of my attention to idols than I have to my relationship with you. Help me clear idols out of my heart and trust only in you. I commit to new priorities, where I put you first and center the rest of my life around you. Show me how to change the ways I spend my time and energy so I’m worshiping you with my entire life. Thank you for the greatest wonder of all, your Son Jesus Christ, who saved me. Help me live each day to honor you. I love you, God. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©Sparrowstock/David Clark
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Originally published Tuesday, 15 April 2025.
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