The Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. (Psalm 96:4-5)
To all who believe in the Almighty and acknowledge His greatness, He is undeniably the Master of the Universe. Whether observing the vastness of the cosmos or the intricacies of our own being, His power and authority are on display for all to behold. As Paul acknowledged, there is no valid excuse for ignoring His sovereignty because, “since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).
Nevertheless through the ages, men have chosen to ignore His authority; moreover, they have inserted other things — gods, if you will — into the role and position reserved exclusively for the Almighty. It is in that light that the psalmist reiterates that the God of Israel is to be feared and revered above any and all things considered to be a god. More specifically, the psalmist recognized that the gods of the nations are merely man-made objects — idols. The Hebrew word translated as “idols” literally means “nothings” — i.e. confused and errant people worship nothing gods which is to say they worship things that are absolutely worthless.
It seems so obvious; idols — whatever they may be — are the creation of fallen, fallible and finite men. On the other hand, the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, was created by the God of Israel — and that includes mankind. Why then would we revere anything we have fashioned above the Most High? Again as Paul said, we have no excuses for such nonsense. Therefore, as the people of God, we are to declare His salvation from day to day and declare His glory among the nations. Some won’t hear of it but some will; some will cling to their worthless gods but there are some who will abandon the nothing gods for the God who is everything. For their sake, let us continue to proclaim truth and righteousness.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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