Exegeting the Hymns 18 - Behold Our God

Behold Our God
w/m Jonathan Baird, Meghan Baird, Ryan Baird, Stephen Altrogge

Who has held the oceans in His hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice
 
Behold our God seated on His throne
Come let us adore Him
Behold our King nothing can compare
Come let us adore Him!
 
Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His Words?
Who can teach the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?
 
Who has felt the nails upon His hands?
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man
God eternal humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior risen now to reign!
 
You will reign forever!
Let Your glory fill the earth!

One of my favorite new hymns is Sovereign Grace’s “Behold Our God”. This song is a series of rhetorical questions that point out the power and sovereignty of God, as well as the absurd pride of the natural thought processes of man. Who has held the oceans in His hands? Who has numbered every grain of sand? Starting with a focus on God’s infinite power and knowledge, this line sets the tone of the song by seeing God for who He is. Kings and nations tremble at His voice. All creation rises to rejoice. While many kings and nations think they exercise sovereignty, in reality, they are given their power and authority by the King of kings. The heavens declare the glory of God, and one day every knee will bow to the Lord of lords.

Behold our God seated on His throne, come let us adore Him. Read Revelation 5. It is stunning how the hosts of heaven rejoice when Jesus steps forward to open the scroll of the wrath of God. Angelic beings like the four living creatures and the 24 elders sing the praises of God day and night. They see God face to face and their response is continual praise. We sometimes struggle to get through a five song set on a Sunday morning, but one day, face to face, we will see Him as He is, and we will adore Him forever and ever. This song calls for us to see God, even if it is veiled (For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known), and adore the one who sits on the throne, to whom nothing can compare. Behold our King nothing can compare, come let us adore Him!

Who has given counsel to the Lord? Who can question any of His Words? Who can teach the One who knows all things? Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds? What stunningly ludicrous and laughable questions… sadly there are many who have had their eyes blinded, who think they can tell God what He should do and who He should be. Ephesians 1 teaches us that God does everything according to the counsel of His own will. Some may question His words, but in the end every knee will bow to the King. God is omniscient, God never learns anything. God never has to wait for man to act before knowing how to react. God is the initiator and no one can understand the ways of God apart from the holy scriptures.

Who has felt the nails upon His hands, Bearing all the guilt of sinful man? Jesus atoned for our sins on the cross. Atonement means “reconciliation” or “amends.” That means that Jesus vicariously (in the place of another) paid for our sins so that they are no more. Mark 10:45 says that Jesus gave His life a ransom for many. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says “For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God”. That is what is called the “Great Exchange”. Jesus took our sinful life and was punished in our place, and in exchange, gave us His righteousness. That is how we we can stand before the Father, because we now have the righteousness of Christ. Atonement assures that we will never die in our sins for they are as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered again.

God eternal humbled to the grave, Jesus, Savior risen now to reign! Jesus, who is God, humbled Himself and was crucified, and rose again, defeating sin and death. The bridge of the song then carries the praise to our Lord: You will reign forever! Let Your glory fill the earth!

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