From the Dust
Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high? Psalm 113:5 · Berean Standard Bible
The psalmist asks a rhetorical question that has only one answer: no one compares to God — He's incomparable in every way.
By asking 'Who is like the LORD?' the psalmist invites the listener into genuine wonder. The answer is obvious: nobody. But saying it as a question makes you think about it, marvel at it. The description 'the One enthroned on high' emphasizes God's position of absolute authority and distance from our limitations.
The psalmist, drawing worshippers into contemplation and awe.
Throughout Scripture, this question — 'Who is like God?' — keeps appearing because it captures something essential: God's uniqueness is foundational to everything else we believe about Him.
A rhetorical question that emphasizes God's incomparability: no deity or power can be likened to Him in any dimension.
The rhetorical question 'Who is like the LORD our God?' (מִי כַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ, mi kayyahweh elohenu) invokes the form of a judicial or deliberative question—it presumes no legitimate answer. This structure appears throughout Exodus (particularly 15:11, where Moses poses the identical question after the Red Sea crossing), anchoring the affirmation within Israel's salvation history. 'The One enthroned on high' (הַשֹּׁכֵן בִּמְרוֹמִים, hashoken bimromim) employs architectural language—God is positioned, secured, dwelling in the exalted places.
The psalmist, now addressing the congregation directly with a panegyrical question that invites assent.
This echoes the incomparability motif found throughout Second Isaiah (40:25, 46:5), where YHWH challenges any rival to comparison. In Christian theology, this assertion becomes the foundation for Christological claims about Christ as God's unique embodiment.
3From where the sun rises to where it sets, the name of the LORD is praised.
4The LORD is exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens.
5Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?
6He humbles Himself to behold the heavens and the earth.
7He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
Read all of Psalm 113 — God is so high He looks down on the heavens — yet He lifts the poor from the dust and seats them with princes.
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