Who Is Like the Lord?

Curious Pilgrim Daily Office Reflection
Psalm 89 • Ezekiel 2:1–7 • Acts 11:1–18

“Who is like you, O Lord God of hosts?” (Psalm 89:8)

Every generation answers that question.

Some conclude there is no God at all. Others are uncertain and call themselves agnostic. Some believe God created the universe but remains distant and uninvolved. Many religious people picture God primarily as a lawgiver, judge, jury, and punisher.

Yet the Psalmist offers a strikingly different vision.

God’s throne is established upon righteousness and justice, while steadfast love and faithfulness go before Him (Psalm 89:14). These are not simply attributes of God—they are His very character. Righteousness is God’s unwavering commitment to what is good and right. Justice is His determination to restore what is broken and defend those who are vulnerable. His steadfast love never abandons His creation, and His faithfulness endures through every generation.

If this is who God is, then everything else in today’s readings begins to make sense.

Ezekiel receives one of the most difficult commissions imaginable. God sends him to speak to a rebellious people who may refuse to listen. God never promises success. He simply commands Ezekiel to bear faithful witness.

That speaks powerfully to our own lives.

We often measure faithfulness by results. God measures it by obedience.

Our calling is not to control how others respond. We are called to speak truth with humility, courage, and love, leaving the results in God’s hands.

Then Acts 11 expands our understanding even further.

Peter returns to Jerusalem facing criticism because he entered the home of Gentiles. According to everything he had previously believed, he had crossed a sacred boundary. But through a vision and the unmistakable work of the Holy Spirit, Peter discovers something that forever changes the Church.

The vision was never really about food.

It was about people.

God already loved those Peter had considered “unclean.”

Peter’s remarkable conclusion echoes through history:

“Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

Peter did not abandon his faith. Instead, God enlarged his understanding of God’s own heart. He learned that God’s grace extends far beyond the boundaries human beings create.

That remains one of the Church’s greatest challenges.

Every generation must ask difficult questions:

Have we drawn lines where God has drawn circles?

Have we excluded those whom God is inviting?

Have we defended our traditions more fiercely than we have embraced God’s mission?

These questions have shaped much of my own pilgrimage. For many years I viewed God primarily through the lens of fear, judgment, and condemnation. Slowly, through Scripture, experience, faithful teachers, and the grace of Christ, I have come to see God differently. I now encounter a God whose righteousness is expressed through justice, whose justice is tempered by mercy, and whose steadfast love reaches farther than I ever imagined.

Like Ezekiel, we are called to bear witness even when our message is unpopular.

Like Peter, we must remain open to having God expand our understanding of His grace.