O God, Who is Like You?

A friend has recently taken to posting quotes on his website on a somewhat regular cadence, often adding his thoughts, related scripture or additional context. Shamelessly jumping on that bandwagon, I would like to start a series in this space, examining hymns and songs while also adding my thoughts, scriptures and at times, prayers of response. I hope this will an encouragement as you read these words, and that they will prompt you worship and cling to our God.

O Lord, My Rock and My Redeemer is a song written by Nathan Stiff and published by Sovereign Grace Music. We often sing it at Seaford Baptist Church, and each time we do I am strongly pulled to Psalm 71:19-20, as we lift the words to our God in worship.

Psalm 71:19-20

19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.

I’ve turned to time and again to this passage to remind me who God is. Maybe that sounds strange to you – God is God, you may be thinking – and dear friend, you are right. He is. But I can so often forget the immense magnitude of who He is – and find myself needing to preach the truth of this to my soul: “O God, who is like you?” And, the words of the song O Lord, My Rock & My Redeemer capture this so perfectly that as I sung the words this morning with my church family, I was moved to tears with gratitude for what my Rock and my Redeemer has done for my weary soul.

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Greatest treasure of my longing soul
My God, like You there is no other
True delight is found in You alone
Your grace, a well too deep to fathom
Your love exceeds the heavens’ reach
Your truth, a fount of perfect wisdom
My highest good and my unending need

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Strong defender of my weary heart
My sword to fight the cruel deceiver
And my shield against his hateful darts
My song when enemies surround me
My hope when tides of sorrow rise
My joy when trials are abounding
Your faithfulness, my refuge in the night

I need His grace to be that well too deep – deep enough to be applied to my sinful life. Deep enough, to extend to every rebel part of my stubborn soul. Deep enough to match His great mercy, and for both that grace and mercy to intertwine divinely to make me His own.

And you do as well, my friend.

And night after endless night, when my mind is attacked by nightmares and fear, my God’s steadfast, unwavering faithfulness becomes my refuge in the dark, dark night…even when I may not sense His presence in the moment, I know I can grab hold of Psalm 19:20 with a white-knuckled grip: “You who have made me see many troubles and calamities, will revive me again.” He is my hope when the ever present tides of immense sorrow threaten to drown my soul. He is my Rock & my Redeemer, the greatest treasure of my longing heart.

But it is verse three of this worship song, that points to why the grace and refuge and and love and faithfulness can be proclaimed and sung in verses one and two. It is verse three, the crescendo (and I do love a good crescendo, don’t you?), that points to why we have a God who the Psalmist is able to cry out about in Psalm 71:19 – “You who have done great things, O God, who is like you??”, because nothing is greater than what was accomplished on the cross for me, and for you.

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Gracious Savior of my ruined life
My guilt and cross laid on Your shoulders
In my place You suffered bled and died
You rose, the grave and death are conquered
You broke my bonds of sin and shame
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
May all my days bring glory to Your Name

He is the Gracious Savior of my ruined life.

He is the Gracious Savior of my ruined life.

He is the Gracious Savior of my ruined life.

And He is the Gracious Savior of your ruined life.

Without His resurrection, there is no hope. No redemption. No salvation. Without his resurrection, I can not – and you can not – voice the final words of Psalm 71:20 – “From the depths of the earth, you will bring me up again.”

He has broken the bonds of MY sin and shame – thick bonds, titanium bonds. Bonds that threatened to completely unravel not only my soul but also my mind. I need that reminder often. The bonds are broken. They are no more.

Several years ago now, I wrote the following prayer, in response to this passage. I share it here with you, not because it is an eloquent prayer – it is far, far from it. But I hope that it will encourage you to interact with scripture as you truly consider your Rock and Redeemer.

O God, I can not fathom how far your righteousness extends. I can not. It reaches the highest heavens, of which I have no concept of. But I do know – at least, I have some awareness of this: You have done great things. Like Thomas who needed to see the nail prints in your hands, I am a first hand witness to the great things you have done in my life.

O God – who is like you? Who is like you? You are God, and I am not. You are God, and I am not.

I have seen many troubles and calamities God. Oh God – the things I have seen, the things that I have known – the things that still, to this day, threaten to cut off my oxygen in an avalanche of fear and grief, pain and sorrow. But Psalm 71:20 reminds me of the story of Job…you made him to see many troubles and calamities – yet your love never departed from him. And Job, in 19:25-26 declares this, as do I “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.“

Therefore God, I am coming to you with my shame, with my grief, with my nightmares and with my sin – I am coming yet again, yet again, yet again, to borrow the words of the Psalmist and say revive me again, revive me again, revive me…again.

May all my days, bring glory to Your Name.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Ps 71:19–20). (2016). Crossway Bibles.