I am the Lord; that is my name;
my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols
(Isaiah 42:8)
Why is God so unwilling to share glory with another? Why would God many times and places, instruct man to worship Him alone? Look up at the heavens, and consider the work of His fingers.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? (Psalm 8:3-4 ESV)
Consider that there are trillions of stars in the known universe. These stars are light years apart and spread throughout the universe. Some stars known as "Hypergiants", are 3,600 times the diameter of our Sun. To reiterate--there are trillions of stars, light years apart, and many of them dwarf the Sun or Earth. God placed them all with His fingers.
We understand also that the stars are relatively young. That is, the stars were created along with man. So the command to worship Him alone is very old--before the stars and before mankind--before we were, God was. So consider this command to worship Him, as an intervention in our futility. Long before mankind understood anything about the vastness of the stars beyond a pretty twinkle in the sky, the command went out before mankind to worship Him and no other.
When we observe honestly the work of His fingers, what we find in this command to worship Him alone, is MERCY.
This command was not just the shouting of a worship hungry God, or the tirades of a glory hound drunk with power--He is the God who predates such foolish thoughts about Him. He is the God Who places the trillions of stars in all of their vastness and massiveness, with His fingers; His fingers! And, in His mercy, He has passed along the instruction and information--this command--"Worship Me alone."
He is mindful of you.
Understand the unwavering position of God to not share glory with another, is GENEROSITY.
In this command, God is no glory hound. There is simply nothing else worthy in all of the universe, or without. God knows this, and He wants us to know it. God has been mindful of us in telling us this. In our utter feebleness He has intervened in our hopeless state and darkened futile minds, telling us, "Here I am! Worship Me alone! I alone am worthy of all of your worship! I will share glory with no other!"
Obey this command... receive His mercy...
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