Above All the Gods

For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.

Psalm 97:9 (NRSVUE)

We can often say things without considering what those things really mean. Psalm 97:9 contains a phrase that is a present theme throughout scripture, that God is greater than all other gods. Everyone who has even a cursory knowledge of scripture knows about the ten commandments, and in Exodus 20:3 (NRSVUE) God gives the command that “you shall have no other gods before me.”

The psalmist, like essentially all other authors of scripture, knew something that we, in our modern "enlightened" age, tend to push aside. The powers of the world are real, and God is greater than them all. If we choose not to acknowledge this reality when we say that God is the greatest, we, as theologian and scholar Michael Heiser has put forth, are saying that God is greater than only fiction like Mickey Mouse or Spiderman. If this false reality were true, our statements about God would be ultimately meaningless. We, of course, are not making this hollow statement, but the statement that God truly is greater than everything else created, both physical and spiritual. When we make this declaration, we make a lot of implicit statements as well.  

There are forces, however you wish to quantify them, that want to take our attention and reverence away from God. There are the abstract ideals that manifest themselves in a number of ways; money, greed, desire for power, hatred, anger, jealousy, and many, many others. A brief survey of the scriptures will show that these misaligned desires have been present, and condemned by God, throughout history. Additionally, there are the powers of Satan as they are described in scripture, the same entities that Jesus cast out and healed people from throughout the Gospel accounts. 

We also are implicitly pledging our allegiance to God (which we should also do explicitly!). To state that God is the greatest, and then continue to choose something other than Him, is to be foolish, aligning ourselves with something inferior to the Almighty, creator God. The only choice is to smash our idols, reject the powers of the world, and live out the reality that the Lord is exalted far above all other gods. 

As this devotion comes to your inbox, it is the week of Christmas. What an amazing celebration to have, and a declaration to make, that the child born so long ago, God with us in the flesh, is the one who is most high over all the earth. The one who chose to begin, and ultimately end, His time on Earth in the humblest way is the one to whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is the Lord. Why would we ever choose to make something other than God that which is most exalted in our lives? The battle is already won, the victory already sure, and we are fortunate enough to pledge our allegiance and offer our praise to the winning side. 

I hope that you and those around you have a blessed and merry Christmas this year. I pray that you, and I, can cast aside all else, and truly mean it when we say, “God, you are greater than all other gods.” 

And that greatness began as the king of all emptying Himself to become human. 

What child is this?

The greatest. 

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