No God Beside Thee

No God Beside Thee

The Lord our God is one Lord. There is none beside Him. He alone is God. Follow Him. Give Him all the glory and the praise. Believe Him to complete what He began in you. Trust Him for He cannot lie. He created all things and does wondrous things - one of which is to save mankind from their sins.

Deuteronomy 6:4 says - "Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God is one Lord."

In Dakes' Annotated Reference Bible, there is a note on this particular verse that is worth mentioning - "These words were used at the beginning of the Jewish services of both morning and evening(verses 4-5), and may be termed the short creed to the Jews. In them we find not only the declaration of the unity of God as contrasted with polytheism...but also the fact that Jehovah is the absolute and only uncaused God. Literally, Jehovah our Elohim is a unified Jehovah..."

The Lord is our God - the Lord alone. He is absolutely God, and there is none other.

This exclusiveness of God is repeated throughout the Scriptures, but especially throughout the book of Isaiah -

"...Is there a God beside Me? yea, there is no God; I know not any."(Isaiah 44:8)
"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me..."(Isaiah 45:5)
"That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am the LORD, and there is none else."(Isaiah 45:6)

1 Kings 18:21 records the Prophet Elijah's question to the children of Israel - "...How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow Him..." Because He is God, then we should follow Him, serve Him, and give Him our total allegiance.

In Isaiah 42:8, the Lord identifies Himself by saying - "I am the LORD; that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images." Because He is the Lord, He is worthy of all the glory and all our praise.

In Isaiah 44:6, He declares - "...I am the first, and I am the last; and beside Me there is no God." Because He is the first and the last, we can trust Him as the Author and the Finisher of our Faith and believe that He Who began a good work in us "will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

Jeremiah 10:10 tells us - "But the LORD is the true God, He is the living God..." Because He is the God of Truth, the "God, that cannot lie"(Titus 1:2), and the God "which keepeth truth for ever"(Psalm 146:6) - we can assuredly trust Him to always keep His Word.

Jeremiah 10:11 goes on to say - "...The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." However, Nehemiah 9:6 records the words of the Levites as they praised the Lord - "Thou, even Thou, art LORD alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshipeth Thee." Because He has created all things, He is worthy "to receive glory, honor, and power"(Revelation 4:11).

Psalm 86:10 tells us - "For Thou art great, and doest wondrous things: Thou art God alone." Because He is the God of signs and wonders, we should place our total confidence in Him for there is nothing too hard for Him.

Lastly, 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us - "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Isaiah 43:11 says - "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no Savior." Because He is the middle Person in reconciling God and men - and also the One and Only Savior Who saves men from their sin - we can cry out to Him to save our families, neighbors, coworkers, cities, and nations.

Bless His Holy Name!

May God Bless His Word.

Connie