None like You

Paraverse 1 — Movement 1: The God Who Is

Jump to the song →

Theological foundation

1. Locus

This song sits in the doctrine of God (theology proper). It confesses the divine nature in its incommunicable attributes — aseity, simplicity, eternity, infinity / immensity, immutability, incomprehensibility — and its central communicable attributes — holiness, justice, truth, goodness — names the Triune confession in passing (per framework decision: Trinity is named, not opened as a separate movement), and resolves them all in the divinity of the Son confessed at the cross. It is an opening adoration: in Calvin's order (Inst. I.1), the knowledge of God is prior to the knowledge of self; in Heidelberg's order, knowledge of misery presupposes knowledge of the God against whom sin is sin. The canon must open here.

The song is in five stanzas with a short Sanctus refrain between them — a deliberate Reformed-liturgical breath, not a contemporary-worship chorus (see §6).

2. Scripture grounding

Every stanza and the refrain are anchored, not decorated.

Refrain — Sanctus / Mosaic doxology - Isaiah 6:3 / Revelation 4:8 — Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts - Exodus 15:11 — Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods?

Stanza 1 — unicity, aseity, pre-eternity, immutability - Deuteronomy 6:4 / Isaiah 45:5 — the LORD is one... there is no God beside Me (L1) - Exodus 3:14 — I AM WHO I AM (L2 — the Great I AM) - John 1:1 — in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (L3) - Malachi 3:6 / Hebrews 13:8 — I the LORD do not change; the same yesterday and today and forever (L4)

Stanza 2 — pre-eternity, eternity, transcendence, invisibility - Psalm 90:2 — before the mountains were brought forth... from everlasting to everlasting You are God (L1, L4 bookend) - Isaiah 57:15 — the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity (L2) - 1 Timothy 6:16 — who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen (L2) - Psalm 113:4 — the LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens (L3) - 1 Kings 8:27 — heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You (L3, by implication) - Revelation 1:8 — who was, and is, and is to come (L4)

Stanza 3 — incomprehensibility, attribute stack, source of all - Romans 11:33 — Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments (L1) - Psalm 145:3 / Job 36:26 — His greatness is unsearchable (L2) - Revelation 4:8 — Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty (L3 — almighty, holy) - Isaiah 6:3 — Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts (L3 — holy) - Revelation 15:3 — just and true are Your ways (L3 — just, and true) - Romans 11:36 — from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (L4) - James 1:17 — every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights (L4, carried by implication)

Stanza 4 — the Triune confession - Matthew 28:19 — baptising them in the name [singular] of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (L1) - Deuteronomy 6:4 — the LORD is one (L2) - 1 Corinthians 8:6 — for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things (L3) - Acts 17:28 — in Him we live and move and have our being (L4) - Job 33:4 / Job 12:10 — the breath of the Almighty gives me life; in His hand is the breath of all mankind (L4 — the breathe in Thee motif)

Stanza 5 — Christ-pivot, atonement, unique Name, personal - John 1:14 — the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (L1) - Isaiah 53:5 / 1 Peter 2:24 — bore our sins in His body on the tree (L2) - Acts 4:12 / Philippians 2:9-11 — no other name... the name above every name (L3) - Galatians 2:20 — the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (L4)

3. Confessional anchoring

• Belgic Confession Article 1: "there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good." Article 1 is the confessional spine for stanzas 1–3: one (S1L1), eternal and infinite (S2), incomprehensible and perfectly wise (S3L1–2), invisible (S2L2), immutable (S1L4), almighty, just, true (S3L3), and overflowing fountain of all good (S3L4) all appear directly. Simple is carried to S4L2 ("one Lord in essence, ever three").
• Belgic Confession Article 8: "according to this truth and this Word of God, we believe in one only God, who is one single essence, in which are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct." Article 8 is the confessional anchor for stanza 4.
• Westminster Confession 2.1: the identical attribute catalogue in different order — the doctrine sits in the catholic Reformed mainstream, not in one branch only.
• Westminster Confession 2.3: "In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity." Direct ground for stanza 4.
• Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 24–25: the three persons of one true God — invoked through stanza 4 explicitly and through the address-shift from "You, Lord" (S1–S3) to "Jesus, Lord, the Word" and "O Son of God" (S5).
• Athanasian Creed: the Creed's own two-part architecture — de divina natura (with the long Trinitarian section) followed by de incarnatione — is the structural template the song's S1–S4 / S5 division mirrors.

4. Why this content, this shape

• Open with God, not with us. Heidelberg's catechetical order, Calvin's Institutes, and the Genevan / Scottish / GKSA liturgical traditions all open worship with adoration. Opening the canon with our condition would invert the order the tradition teaches.
• Five stanzas because the subject matter requires the room. Movement 1's framework body names aseity, simplicity, infinity, immutability, and the Triune God explicitly. A three-stanza song can fit these only by compression; a five-stanza song lets each attribute set breathe and confess properly without crowding the cross-pivot.
• The Sanctus refrain as breath, not chorus. The Sanctus (Isa 6:3 / Rev 4:8) is the oldest liturgical refrain in the church — predating verse-chorus form by approximately fifteen centuries. Its 6/5-syllable shape against the LM stanzas is a metrical contrast, not a metrical doubling: a sung exhale between confessions, not a hook. The refrain holds awe and is itself answered, not repeated, by the cross-pivot in S5.
• Attributes named without metaphor in S2–S3. Belgic Article 1 names attributes in unbroken parataxis. The song's restraint mirrors the confession's restraint: naming is the confessional act. Metaphor enters only as the framework's permitted threads allow.
• The Triune confession in S4, not as the topic. Per framework decision, Trinity is not opened as a separate movement; but the divine nature confessed in Movement 1 is the Triune divine nature, and the song must say so. S4 names Father, Son, and Spirit (L1), confesses one essence (L2), names the from-through structure of 1 Cor 8:6 (L3), and closes on the creature's being-in-God from Acts 17:28 (L4 — "we live, we move, we breathe in Thee"). It does not develop pneumatology (that is Movement 7) or Christology (that is Movement 5–6). It performs the catholic doxological move: the three persons named, the one essence affirmed, the Pauline creator-creature relation confessed, and the song moves on.
• Christ named in His person and work in S5. S4L3's "through the Christ" sits inside the 1 Cor 8:6 Trinitarian formula (one God the Father / one Lord Jesus Christ) — Christ is named within the doxological Triune confession, not yet as the gospel-pivot. The Athanasian Creed itself pivots from the divine nature (with its Trinitarian section) to the Incarnation; S5 makes that pivot — incarnation, atonement, the unique Name, and the personal for me. Without S5 this song would be natural theology with a Trinitarian tag — true, but not yet gospel.
• The personal pivot deferred to the final phrase, and no refrain follows it. The singular first-person "me" appears once in the entire song, at the very end of S5L4 ("O Son of God, You died for me"). Stanzas 2–4 carry corporate first-person plural (we behold, praise we bring, we live, we move, we breathe) — the worshipping community's confessional voice — but never the singular personal claim until the final phrase. The refrain does not return after S5: the awe of Sanctus is answered by the silence of the wounded Lord. The order — doctrinal then Triune then personal — is the order of Romans 1–11–8 in miniature.

5. Lineage continuity

• Inherits SB 12-3's shape: attributes-then-Christ, personal pivot deferred to the final beat. The structural inheritance is the inheritance — the words are original to Paraverses.
• Departs from SB on one point — the refrain — and defends the departure. The Skrifberyming tradition typically uses stanzaic form without refrains. The Sanctus refrain in this song is not a contemporary-worship addition but a recovery of an older Reformed-and-catholic practice: the Te Deum, the Genevan and Lutheran chorale interjections, Heber's Holy, Holy, Holy (1826) where the Sanctus is sung within every stanza, and the broader regulative-principle defence of singing biblical doxologies as breath between confessions. The refrain belongs to the liturgical lineage of the same Reformed tradition the Skrifberymings inhabit; it is not borrowed from a later devotional form.
• Sits inside the Scots Paraphrase tradition: LM (8.8.8.8) is one of the historic Paraphrase metres; the Paraphrases versify non-Psalm Scripture in singable hymn metre, which is what this song does with the Athanasian / Romans 11 / Isaiah 6 / Psalm 90 / Matthew 28 / Galatians 2 material.
• Original, not translated. No line, phrase, or rhyme is borrowed from any existing Skrifberyming or Paraphrase. The lineage is the form, discipline, and Scripture-bound intent — not the words.

6. Objections answered

• "Is the refrain a verse-chorus contemporary-worship import?" — No. A 6/5-syllable Sanctus echo is not a chorus; it is a sung breath in the Isaiah-6 / Revelation-4 liturgical tradition that the church has used since at least the patristic era. It does not pre-empt the cross (it returns to "there is none like You", not to comfort), and it does not return after S5. A chorus repeats and resolves; this refrain breathes and is answered.
• "Is the Triune confession adequate without being the topic?" — Yes. S4 names Father, Son, and Spirit explicitly, confesses "one Lord in essence, ever three" (Belgic Art. 8 / WCF 2.3 / Heidelberg Q&A 25 in song), and grounds the persons in 1 Corinthians 8:6 ("from God the Father, through the Christ") and Acts 17:28 ("we live, we move, we breathe in Thee"). Trinity is confessed in passing per the framework decision rather than developed as the song's central topic — which is precisely what Movement 1 calls for.
• "Is this contemporary worship in Reformed clothes?" — No. Stanzaic, attribute-stacked, deferred personal pivot, no affective opening, no emotional climax-by-repetition, no singular first-person address before S5L4. The corporate we in S2–S4 is the gathered congregation's confessional voice, not a personal claim. The refrain holds awe rather than announcing closeness. Contemporary worship characteristically leads with the personal / affective; this song defers the personal until the cross.
• "Is divine simplicity properly held?" — Yes. S1L1 ("There is no one besides You, Lord") confesses unicity; S4L2 ("one Lord in essence, ever three") confesses unity-of-essence — together carrying simplicity: God is not composite, not divisible, not arranged into parts. The attribute catalogue in S3L3 (almighty, holy, just, and true) is named in parataxis with no "and yet" tension between attributes (the same syntactic discipline as Belgic Art. 1). Simplicity is confessed in the song's shape, not just its words. S4L2 affirms simplicity-with-Trinity in one phrase — the doctrine that the three persons are not three parts of God but one undivided essence subsisting in three relations.
• "Is this Regulative-Principle compliant?" — Yes. Every line is traceable to specific Scripture passages; there is no novel devotional invention, no extra-canonical figure, no Marian or hagiographic material. The Sanctus refrain is itself a direct quotation of Isaiah 6:3 / Revelation 4:8 + Exodus 15:11 — the most RPW-secure refrain conceivable.
• "Why English?" — Paraverses is an English extension of the same lineage, for Reformed congregations who worship in English (including bilingual and anglophone GKSA-tradition communities). The lineage is the tradition's intent, not its language.

7. Lyric brief

The lyric will be approved when it satisfies:

1. S1 confesses unicity, aseity, pre-eternity, and immutability. Simplicity is carried forward to S4L2 ("one Lord in essence") rather than confessed in S1 directly.
2. S2 confesses pre-eternity, eternity, transcendence (immensity), and invisibility — God before all, above the heavens, dwelling in unapproachable light.
3. S3 stacks at least five of: incomprehensibility, omnipotence, holiness, justice, truth, goodness / source-of-all — named without metaphor except as the framework's permitted threads allow.
4. S4 names Father, Son, and Spirit explicitly, confesses one essence, and closes on the creature's being-in-God (Acts 17:28) — Trinity confessed in passing, not opened as the topic; no pneumatology or Christology developed beyond what 1 Cor 8:6 itself names.
5. S5 names Christ explicitly, anchors the atonement (cross / tree / wounded), names the unique Name (Phil 2:9 / Acts 4:12), and lands the personal "for me" at or near the final phrase.
6. The refrain is short (≤ two lines), holds awe, is biblical (Sanctus / Mosaic doxology), and does not return after S5.
7. No phrase exceeds the affective register the tradition permits at this point in the arc — no anticipatory comfort, no singular first-person address before S5L4 (corporate we in S2–S4 is permitted as the confessional voice).
8. No phrase, rhyme, or syntactic shape is borrowed from any existing Skrifberyming or Paraphrase.
9. Singable LM (8.8.8.8) for the stanzas, strict 8-syllable lines, broadly iambic with normal substitutions, strong rhyme (ABCB or ABAB), natural English speech rhythm; refrain in a clearly contrasting short metre.

Lyric

Words and music by Attie Retief.

Stanza 1

There is no one besides You, Lord — the Great I AM, we praise Your Name. And as the Word is God with God, You were, You are, You stay the same.

Refrain

Holy, holy, holy — there is none like You.

Stanza 2

Before the mountains rose to be, aloft, on high, in light unseen, above the heavens we behold — You, Lord, eternally have been.

Refrain

Holy, holy, holy — there is none like You.

Stanza 3

Oh, deeply wise and knowing Judge, whose boundless greatness praise we bring — almighty, holy, just, and true; from You, through You, to You all things.

Refrain

Holy, holy, holy — there is none like You.

Stanza 4

The Father, Son, and Spirit, One — one Lord in essence, ever three; from God the Father, through the Christ, we live, we move, we breathe in Thee.

Refrain

Holy, holy, holy — there is none like You.

Stanza 5

And Jesus, Lord, the Word who came to bear our sins upon the tree — the only Name above all names; O Son of God, You died for me.

(No refrain after Stanza 5 — the song lands on the cross and stops.)

Annotated lyric — regulative principle warrant

Stanza	Warrant
Refrain Holy, holy, holy — there is none like You.	Isa 6:3, Rev 4:8 (the Sanctus); Ex 15:11 (Who is like You, O LORD?). The most RPW-secure refrain possible — both lines are direct paraphrases of scripture.
S1 L1 — There is no one besides You, Lord — L2 — the Great I AM, we praise Your Name. L3 — And as the Word is God with God, L4 — You were, You are, You stay the same.	L1 — Isa 45:5 (I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God); Deut 6:4 (the LORD is one — unicity doctrine carried). L2 — Ex 3:14 (I AM WHO I AM); Phil 2:9-10 (the Name above every name — the Name thread). L3 — John 1:1 (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God). L4 — Mal 3:6 (I the LORD do not change); Heb 13:8 (Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever). Confessional: Belgic Art. 1; WCF 2.1.
S2 L1 — Before the mountains rose to be, L2 — aloft, on high, in light unseen, L3 — above the heavens we behold — L4 — You, Lord, eternally have been.	L1 — Ps 90:2 (Before the mountains were brought forth... from everlasting to everlasting You are God). L2 — Isa 57:15 (the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity); 1 Tim 6:16 (who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen). L3 — Ps 113:4 (the LORD is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens); 1 Kings 8:27 (heaven cannot contain You — by implication). L4 — Ps 90:2 (from everlasting — bookend); Rev 1:8 (who was, and is, and is to come). Confessional: Belgic Art. 1; WCF 2.1.
S3 L1 — Oh, deeply wise and knowing Judge, L2 — whose boundless greatness praise we bring — L3 — almighty, holy, just, and true; L4 — from You, through You, to You all things.	L1 — Rom 11:33 (Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments). L2 — Ps 145:3 (Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable); Job 36:26. L3 — Rev 4:8 (Almighty); Isa 6:3 (holy, holy, holy); Rev 15:3 (just and true are Your ways). L4 — Rom 11:36 (from Him and through Him and to Him are all things); Jas 1:17 (every good gift from the Father of lights — carried by implication). Confessional: Belgic Art. 1 ("overflowing fountain of all good"); WCF 2.1.
S4 L1 — The Father, Son, and Spirit, One — L2 — one Lord in essence, ever three; L3 — from God the Father, through the Christ, L4 — we live, we move, we breathe in Thee.	L1 — Matt 28:19 (baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit). L2 — Deut 6:4 (the LORD is one); Belgic Art. 8 (one essence, three persons really and eternally distinct). L3 — 1 Cor 8:6 (for us there is one God the Father, from whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things). L4 — Acts 17:28 (in Him we live and move and have our being); Job 33:4 (the breath of the Almighty gives me life); Job 12:10 (in His hand is the breath of all mankind). Confessional: Belgic Art. 8; WCF 2.3; Heidelberg Q&A 24-25; Athanasian Creed (Trinitarian sections).
S5 L1 — And Jesus, Lord, the Word who came L2 — to bear our sins upon the tree — L3 — the only Name above all names; L4 — O Son of God, You died for me.	L1 — John 1:14 (the Word became flesh and dwelt among us). L2 — 1 Pet 2:24 (He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree); Isa 53:5 (by His wounds we are healed). L3 — Phil 2:9 (God has bestowed on Him the name above every name); Acts 4:12 (there is no other name under heaven... by which we must be saved). L4 — Gal 2:20 (the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me). Confessional: Athanasian Creed (Son's deity and Incarnation); Heidelberg Q&A 29-30 (Jesus / Saviour).

Notes

• Threads: The Name runs through R, S1L2 (we praise Your Name), S4L1 (the Triune Name), S5L3 (the only Name above all names); Light surfaces in S2L2 (in light unseen — 1 Tim 6:16, dwelling in unapproachable light). Water-and-Thirst is not explicit in this song — reserved for later Movement 1 entries.
• Metre: stanzas in strict LM (8.8.8.8) — every stanza line is exactly 8 syllables. The strict syllable parity is deliberate: it lets a single melody set every stanza identically, with no per-stanza re-phrasing required from the singer or the generator. Rhyme is ABCB (Common-Meter rhyme inside an LM stanza shape — L2 and L4 rhyme; L1 and L3 do not) in S1–S4, ABAB in S5. Refrain in a contrasting short metre (6/5 syllables) — a metrical breath, not a metrical doubling. Compatible with a wide range of historic LM stanza tunes with a freshly composed refrain.
• Melody intent: stepwise, modest range (~octave), congregation-led without band or lead voice. The refrain should sit in the upper register of the octave (the angelic register); the stanzas in the mid-voice. The line "O Son of God, You died for me" should fall on the lowest, stillest moment of the tune — the awe of S1–S4 drawn to one quiet point.
• No refrain after S5: by design. The Sanctus is answered by the cross, not repeated over it.
• Title: None like You — locked. Taken from the refrain's second line, anchored in Exodus 15:11 (Who is like You, O LORD?) and the Sanctus tradition (Isa 6 / Rev 4). Names the song's emotional and theological centre without quoting any single stanza.