There is none like God, O [Israel],
who rides through the heavens to your help,
and in his majesty through the skies.
The eternal God is your dwelling place,
And underneath are the everlasting arms.

"He rides through the heavens…"

He is free to move where he wills and do what he pleases. God is not hindered, impeded, obstructed, or restrained in the fulfillment of his purposes. "I am God…I work and none can hinder it" (Isaiah 43:13). "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).

"…to your help."

His freedom and unbounded successfulness is in the service of his people. "He rides through the heavens to our help." God is exuberant in his pursuit of ways to help us. "Goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6). The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth to show himself strong on [our] behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9). "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve" (Mark 10:45).

"There is none like God…"

The other gods want us to ride through the heavens to their help. They don’t work for man; they need man to work for them. "Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts" (Isaiah 46:1). They need to be carried. But God carries his people. "From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee who works for those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:4).

"…and in his majesty through the skies."

He shows his majesty in the act of helping his people. We get the help, he gets the majesty. "He exalts himself to show mercy to you" (Isaiah 30:18). He does not compromise the commitment to his own glory in serving us; he proves it.

"The eternal God is your dwelling place…"

He is help and he is home—eternal home. When you come home to him, you are home forever. He cannot be burned down, or blown down, or broken into, or foreclosed on. In him we live and move and have our being. Coming to him is coming home—forever.

O God our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
be Thou our guide while life shall last
and our eternal home.

"…and underneath are the everlasting arms."

He is not only around us like a home; he is under us like arms. When he rides through the heavens to our help and in his majesty through the skies, he picks us up and holds us next to his heart with everlasting arms.

Leaning, leaning,
Safe and secure from all alarms,
Leaning, leaning,
Leaning on the everlasting arms...with you,

Pastor John