He Alone is God (Ps 86, Part III)

⁸  Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.

⁹  All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.

¹⁰ For You are great, and do wondrous things;
You alone are God. – Psalm 86:8-10

I find the words, “among the gods” amusing.  I understand having to refer to man made pagan gods as a reference for contrast but truly no such thing exists.  There is one true living God.  Everything else is dead and exists only as someone’s imagination. 

I am reminded of Elijah and his confrontation with the prophets of their pagan gods Baal and Asherah (reference 1 Kings 18).  After 3 ½ years of a drought Elijah confronts 850 priests of these false gods in a contest to show who’s god was real.  Elijah even taunts them as they cannot get their god to answer.  Elijah prays in verses 36 and 37 for God to burn the altar.  His prayer is barely 32 words long.  He prays for God to answer him so “these people will know that You, O Lord, are God”.  After the Lord answers, the people fall face down on the ground and cry out, “The Lord – He is God!”

David says in his prayer that all nations that God has made will worship Him and they will glorify His name.  Philippians 2:10 says “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”  David completes this thought with “You alone are God.”  There is no other and there never has been and there never will be.  The question is when everyone comes to this knowledge.  Will it be while they are physically living or will it be after they are dead as the rich man in Jesus’ story of Lazarus the beggar?

Sometimes I wonder why my prayers are not more powerful.  I am praying to an all-powerful God.  The only true living God, Creator of all that is or ever will be.  If I conceive that my prayer is unanswered then I must reach one of three conclusions: either I am out of God’s will so I am praying incorrectly, I don’t believe with all my heart so God can’t answer it, or my motive is wrong. 

Here in these verses and in the story of Elijah we learn what our motive should be in our prayers.  We should desire that all people will know that the Lord alone is God.  There is no other.  If our heart truly desires this for those we are praying towards, I believe God answers powerfully.  Unfortunately, the person we are praying for may refuse to believe.  This does not mean God didn’t answer.  It is simply the heart breaking realization of God’s love which allows all men to choose.

Glorify the living Lord today!  Praise Him for His greatness!  Know that He alone is God.