“O God, who is like you?”
The full verse · Psalm 71:19 · KJV
Thy also, O , is very , who hast great : O , who is like unto thee!
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Directed to God in direct address, though spoken within Israel’s worship setting as a testimony to other believers.
Why It Was Asked
The purpose behind the questionThe psalmist uses this question to express adoring wonder rather than seeking information. By asking rather than merely declaring God’s uniqueness, he invites contemplation of God’s incomparability and draws others into worship.
The Response
What Scripture recordsThe text provides no direct verbal response from God. The psalmist answers his own question implicitly by continuing to recount God’s faithfulness and expressing confidence that God will revive him again from the depths of the earth (verse 20).
The Bigger Picture
Where this fits in God's storyThe question “Who is like you?” functions as the pinnacle of the psalmist’s meditation on God’s righteousness. The Hebrew “mi kamokha” carries both wonder and challenge, wonder at God’s character, and an implicit challenge to any rival claim. The psalmist links God’s incomparability directly to His righteousness that reaches “the high heavens,” suggesting that God’s moral perfection transcends all human and cosmic measure. By framing this as a question rather than a statement, the speaker invites the hearer to search for an answer, only to discover none exists. The question’s theological weight lies in its absolute exclusivity: Israel’s God tolerates no comparison, no rival, no second place. This elderly believer’s lifetime of experience has brought him to worship’s purest form, the acknowledgment that God alone is God.
When life’s troubles multiply, ask this question aloud. The psalmist shows that worship isn’t reserved for easy seasons; it emerges most powerfully when we’ve been brought through difficulties only God could handle. Like this aged believer recounting decades of faithfulness, inventory your own story of God’s sustaining grace. Let each remembered deliverance become ammunition against present fear. Romans 8:31 builds on this same foundation: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Your catalog of God’s past faithfulness isn’t nostalgia; it’s the evidence that He who began a good work will complete it (Philippians 1:6). Worship becomes witness when others see you praising the incomparable God in seasons when you have every human reason to despair.
Built from the biblical text and checked against trusted commentaries and lexicons. References & Sources
Keep questioning
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