Incomparable and Unequaled
Is there anything else in our existence quite like the cosmos? On a clear night away from the city lights, the view of the night sky is breathtaking. Stars upon stars upon stars. Too many to count and too spectacular to comprehend! We are enthralled by the brilliance of the view.
We are also stunned by the immense distance between us and them. Even with just our naked eyes, we easily discern the vast space in space. But we don’t even begin to comprehend the width, breadth and depth of God’s cosmos.
Astronomers believe that the diameter of the observable universe … the part we can see … is at least 93 billion light years in distance.
Astronomers also tell us that there are probably more than 10 billion galaxies in the observable view of the night sky. And each of those 10 billion galaxies have on average about 100 billion stars in them. That’s approximately 1 billion trillion stars! (1 billion trillion stars!!!)
And that’s only in the observable universe! There’s even more beyond what we can see with just our eyes.
Wow! Doesn’t that rattle your brain a bit? Doesn’t that fill you with wonder? Doesn’t that stretch your comprehension beyond its limits? How immense are the heavens!
Now consider this: the Bible describes God as “marking off the heavens with the breadth of his hand” (Isaiah 40:12). In other words, the Bible pictures God as using his hand to measure the entirety of the cosmos. That puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? That sheds some light on the magnificence, superiority, and immeasurable greatness of our God!
And that’s the point. The star-filled view of the night sky illustrates the magnificence of our God. The stars show God’s superiority over everything and anything else anywhere. They show us God’s immensity. They powerfully demonstrate how God is infinite. Just as we can’t begin to comprehend the immensity of the cosmos, so we can’t begin to comprehend the infinite God
No wonder David was inspired to write the words of psalm 19. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).
In other words, no matter who a person is or where they happen to live, one thoughtful look at the night sky should convince them that there must be a God. The stars are a night-by-night testimony to the glory, power, wisdom, and general magnificence of God.
The heavens don’t reveal who the real God is, but they make crystal clear that there is one. Only through the Scriptures will anyone find that God … the real God, the only God, the magnificent God who made heaven and earth.
Which is why the Lord inspired Isaiah to write these words: “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing” (Isaiah 40:25-26).
We read these words and our awe increases. Not only did the Lord create the heavens and all the trillions and trillions of stars in them, but through his “great power and mighty strength,” he preserves them. And then there’s perhaps the most mind-blowing truth of all; the Lord knows every single star by name!
We struggle to remember where we left our phones or put our car keys. Yet the Lord has a name for every one of the estimated 1 billion trillion stars that we can see. And he has a name for all the billions of stars that we can’t see, as well!
Our God truly is incomparable and unequaled. And here’s the best part of all: this magnificent God loves us magnificently! How awesome is our God!