“But I am the Lord, your God from the land of Egypt. You know no God but me and besides me, there is no Savior.”
– Hosea 13:4
Hosea 13:4 is a picture of the supremacy of God, of the fact that in the words of Acts 4:12, there is salvation found in no one else. There is no God but the one true God, amidst all the idols of this world, amidst all the false gods of the world. Things, people, ideas set up as God.
There is no God but one, the Lord who is God. No God, but him and besides him, there is no Savior. Think about that. How important that is for each one of our lives to constantly remember we do not look to anyone, anything to save us but God. This or that person whom we love, no matter how wonderful day might be, they cannot save us, they cannot fully satisfy us, they cannot meet our deepest needs.
Hosea 13:4 Reminds Us Salvation Is Found In God
Salvation cannot be found in ideas, people, or theories. Salvation is only found in God.
As we look at to leaders and we think about leaders in the world, even as we’ve prayed leading up to the presidential election in the United States through this podcast, clearly no leader can save us. Our salvation, our hope, our trust are not in the leader of a country, the leader of a church, the leader of an organization, any man, woman, any person, anything, there’s no achievement we can attain. There’s no level we can get to, no position we can climb to, no possession we can own. That if we just get there, then we’ll be satisfied, then we will be fulfilled. It’s a lie straight from the adversary that constantly surrounds us in this world. God speaks crystal clear in Hosea 13:4. “I am the Lord, your God. There is no God but me and besides me, there is no Savior.”
This Verse Leads Us to Praise God
We pray, Oh, God, you alone are God. We confess that together right now. There are no other gods but you. All the gods of the nations are idols. You alone are the Lord. We say this from our hearts, so God may we not look to money as an idol, to possessions or success. Anything this world offers, none of it can fully satisfy us. None of these things can meet our deepest need. No person can meet our deepest needs. You alone can. You alone are God. And You alone are worthy of all of our worship and of all of our praise. Oh God, You alone are worthy of all of our trust. You’re worthy of all of our allegiance. You’re worthy of all of our hope. You alone are God and you alone are our Savior. Jesus, you alone can save us from our sins.
Hosea 13:4 Leads Us to Pray for the Unreached
We say, based on your word, there is salvation found in no one else. There is no other name under heaven whereby people can be saved. Jesus, you alone can save people from sin. There’s no other way to be saved from sin. There’s no other way to be satisfied in our souls, but in you. With that reality, God, please give us urgency today to proclaim your salvation in Jesus. God give us urgency today to point people to Jesus alone as the one who can save. We pray that we would not be silent with this reality, that there is no savior besides Jesus.
We pray that as the church, we would make this known to the ends of the earth. God, we pray for the Southern Uzbek in Afghanistan. Over 4 million of them. God, for the few believers here or there, we praise you for your salvation among Southern Uzbek people. We pray for the spread of the gospel through them, for the spread of Jesus name as savior among the Southern Uzbek of Afghanistan.
God, we pray that. We pray that Afghanistan will exault Jesus as Savior, and Lord, and God. Oh, God, we believe Hosea 13:4. “You are the Lord, our God. We know no God but you and besides you, there is no Savior.” As such, we seek you, we worship you, we trust in you. We yield our lives to your Lordship. So we ask you to lead us, and guide us, and direct us for your glory as the one and only true God. In Jesus’ name, in the name of our Savior we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
