Who Can Stand Before Me Song
Who Can Stand Before Me is drawn directly from Job chapter 41, where Jehovah speaks, not to explain suffering, but to re-establish perspective. Job has questioned, reasoned, endured — and then Jehovah responds, not with answers, but with a vision of creation so vast that human pride dissolves in its presence.
At the center of this chapter stands Leviathan.
Jehovah asks Job a series of questions — not to humiliate him, but to reveal the limits of human power:
Can you draw Leviathan out with a hook?
Can you bind him, tame him, make him your servant?
Would you play with him as with a bird, or give him to your children?
The questions are rhetorical, yet surgical. The answer is always the same: no.
If Job cannot subdue the creature, how could he contend with the One who formed it?
The song follows the structure of the chapter itself. Each verse advances deeper into the description of Leviathan — his strength, his armor, his fearlessness, his fire-breathing breath — while the chorus interrupts like a divine verdict:
“Who is it who can stand up to me?
Who has given me anything first that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the heavens is mine.”
(Job 41:10b–11)
This refrain is not poetic exaggeration. It is a declaration of ownership, authority, and independence. Jehovah owes nothing to anyone. He is not sustained by creation — creation is sustained by Him.
The Hebrew text preserves the raw force of this encounter. The language is physical, unsoftened, untamed. Leviathan’s scales are sealed tightly together; no breath can pass between them. Strength rests in his neck. Fear dances before him. He is called “king over all the majestic wild beasts” (Job 41:34).
And yet — Leviathan is still a creature.
Isaiah later returns to this imagery, showing that even Leviathan, fearsome as he is, remains subject to Jehovah’s purpose:
“In that day Jehovah, with his harsh and great and strong sword,
Will turn his attention to Leviathan…
And he will kill the monster that is in the sea.”
(Isaiah 27:1)
The passage then pivots — not to destruction, but to restoration. A vineyard. Protection. Care. Jehovah safeguarding His people moment by moment.
This contrast is deliberate. The same God who creates what no human can control is the God who tenderly watches over what He loves.
The name Jehovah itself means “I Am That I Am” — the One who becomes whatever He chooses to be in order to accomplish His will. Creator. Judge. Protector. Sustainer. No one appoints Him. No one checks His authority. No one stands before Him unless He permits it.
Who Can Stand Before Me is therefore not merely a song about Leviathan.
It is a reminder of scale.
When fear rises, when injustice burns, when questions feel unanswered — Scripture does not always shrink God to fit our pain. Sometimes it enlarges Him instead, until our pain is finally placed where it belongs.
Under the heavens.
And all that is under the heavens is His.
Lyrics (Hebrew)
Verse 1 — Job 41:33–34; 41:12–16
Job 41:33–34
אֵין עַל־עָפָר מָשְׁלוֹ
הֶעָשׂוּ לִבְלִי־חָת׃
אֵת כָּל־גָּבֹהַּ יִרְאֶה
הוּא מֶלֶךְ עַל־כָּל־בְּנֵי־שָׁחַץ׃
Job 41:12–16
לֹא אַחֲרִישׁ בַּדָּיו
וּדְבַר גְּבוּרוֹת וְחֵן עֶרְכּוֹ׃
מִי גִלָּה פְּנֵי לְבוּשׁוֹ
בְּכֶפֶל רִסְנוֹ מִי יָבוֹא׃
דַּלְתֵי פָנָיו מִי פָתָח
סְבִיבוֹת שִׁנָּיו אֵימָה׃
גַּאֲוָה אֲפִיקֵי מָגִנִּים
סָגוּר חוֹתָם צָר׃
אֶחָד בְּאֶחָד יִגַּשׁוּ
וְרוּחַ לֹא יָבוֹא בֵינֵיהֶם׃
Chorus — Job 41:10b–11
מִי הוּא לְפָנַי יִתְיַצָּב׃
מִי הִקְדִּימַנִי וַאֲשַׁלֵּם
תַּחַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמַיִם לִי הוּא׃
Verse 2 — Isaiah 27:1–3, 6
Isaiah 27:1–3
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא
יִפְקֹד יְהוָה בְּחַרְבּוֹ הַקָּשָׁה וְהַגְּדוֹלָה וְהֶחָזָקָה
עַל־לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ בָּרִחַ
וְעַל־לִוְיָתָן נָחָשׁ עֲקַלָּתוֹן
וְהָרַג אֶת־הַתַּנִּין אֲשֶׁר בַּיָּם׃
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא
כֶּרֶם חֶמֶד עַנּוּ־לָהּ׃
אֲנִי יְהוָה נֹצְרָהּ
לִרְגָעִים אַשְׁקֶנָּה
פֶּן־יִפְקֹד עָלֶיהָ
לַיְלָה וָיוֹם אֶצָּרֶנָּה׃
Isaiah 27:6
הַבָּאִים יַשְׁרֵשׁ יַעֲקֹב
יָצִיץ וּפָרַח יִשְׂרָאֵל
וּמָלְאוּ פְנֵי־תֵבֵל תְּנוּבָה׃
Chorus — Job 41:10b–11
מִי הוּא לְפָנַי יִתְיַצָּב׃
מִי הִקְדִּימַנִי וַאֲשַׁלֵּם
תַּחַת כָּל־הַשָּׁמַיִם לִי הוּא׃
תַּחַת כָּל הַשָּׁמַיִם לִי הוּא׃
Lyrics (English Translation)
Verse 1 — Job 41:33–34; 41:12–16
Job 41:33–34
There is nothing on the dust like him,
One made without fear.
He looks upon everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.
Job 41:12–16
I will not keep silent about his limbs,
Nor about his mighty strength and the grace of his form.
Who has uncovered the face of his garment?
Who can enter his double coat of armor?
Who has opened the doors of his face?
Around his teeth is terror.
His pride is rows of shields,
Sealed together with a tight seal.
Each one fits closely to the next,
So that no air can come between them.
Chorus — Job 41:10b–11
Who is it who can stand before me?
Who has given me anything first that I should repay him?
Whatever is under all the heavens is mine.
Verse 2 — Isaiah 27:1–3, 6
Isaiah 27:1–3
In that day,
Jehovah, with his harsh and great and strong sword,
Will turn his attention to Leviathan, the fleeing serpent,
To Leviathan, the twisting serpent,
And he will kill the monster that is in the sea.
In that day,
A vineyard of delight—sing of her!
I, Jehovah, am safeguarding her;
Moment by moment I water her.
So that no one may harm her,
Night and day I guard her.
Isaiah 27:6
In the days to come, Jacob will take root;
Israel will bud and blossom,
And they will fill the face of the land with produce.
Chorus — Job 41:10b–11
Who is it who can stand before me?
Who has given me anything first that I should repay him?
Whatever is under all the heavens is mine.
