"Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised"
Psalm 48:1
In one of his works, the ‘old Princeton’ theologian Archibald Alexander wrote that “of all conceptions of the human mind, the idea of God is the most sublime.”1 ‘Sublime’ is an old-fashioned kind-of word which is short on use but long on meaning. It indicates that something is ‘wonderful’, ‘exquisite’, ‘blissful’ or even ‘euphoric’. For most of my life I have suffered from the terrible condition of possessing a woefully inadequate view of God. Though I have confessed the greatness of God since my youth, the magnificence of this truth was clouded by more earthly foci. Yet when I first stumbled across Alexander’s statement some months ago it grabbed my soul and began to shake out the earthly dust like an old rug. The power of this truth is all-encompassing: If God is true, he must be great. Since God is great, he deserves our utmost adoration.
Psalm 48:1 boldly declares “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised”. Later (Psalm 77:13), the psalmist asks “Who is so great a god as our God?” As if to ensure we answer the question correctly, the psalmist eventually answers this himself in worship by stating “for you are great, and do wondrous things; you alone are God” (Psalm 86:10). The medieval theology Anselm of Canterbury once defined God as “that than which nothing greater can be thought”. Though stated confusingly to our ears, Anselm understood Scripture’s teaching on the greatness of God. There is nothing ‘above’ God, nothing beyond him, nothing greater than him. No one loves more than God, no one understands more than God, and no one is as powerful as God. He defines grace, mercy, and loving-kindness. He defines holiness, righteousness, and truth. He defines power, perfection, and goodness. He alone is God.
Wherever we turn our eyes, we are met with the marks of a wondrous Creator. We admire the notable artists, film directors, and architects—but who has surpassed the splendor of a New England autumn? We rightly laud technological innovation—but which invention compares with the night-stars’ elegant cosmic dance? Calvin once reminded his students that “there is no spot in the universe in which you cannot discern at least some sparks of his glory.” 2
Of all the conceptions of the human mind, the idea of God is the most sublime.
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1 Archibald Alexander, A Brief Compendium of Bible Truth (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Press, 2005 reprint), p 3.
2 John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, I.v.1
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