There Is No Other [Deuteronomy 4]

³¹"For the LORD your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. ³²"Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? ³³"Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? ³⁴"Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵"To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD, He is God; there is no other besides Him. ³⁶"Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. ³⁷"Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, ³⁸driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. ³⁹"Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the LORD, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. ⁴⁰"So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time."

 

When you read the story of the children of Israel do you think that God is compassionate?  I realized today that I struggle with this truth.  I love that Moses gave them (and me) the big picture.  Have you ever heard of God being so available to a nation before?  "Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and survived? Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?"  What an excellent reminder of His love and His desire for a personal, intimate relationship with them. "Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire."  When I think about it, even in the way he dealt with their sin, there was no question that they were hearing from the "God in heaven above and on the earth below."  God's actions set Him apart as God - there is no other like Him.

LORD God we praise You that You are the God of heaven who powerfully created all things.  There is no one like You.  We praise You that You are also compassionate, loving and faithful. You use Your power to rescue us and redeem us.  You desire to be a God that directly communicates with us and You go to great lengths for us to know You intimately.  Their is no other.