God Who Sees

             “Many times they have attacked me from my youth up,” Let Israel say, “Many times they have attacked me from my youth up; Yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back; they lengthened their furrows.”

The Lord is righteous; He has cut up the ropes of the wicked.

May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward; may they be like grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up; with which the harvester does not fill his hand, or the binder of sheaves his arms; nor do those who pass by say,

“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 129)

 

According to Eugene Peterson, who reminds us that these psalms are about discipleship, this song is about endurance and patience. It could also be about perspective. In life, we face suffering, pain, and warfare. We may be innocent, guilty, or even mistaken, but we feel stretched out and whipped emotionally if not physically. And, I must admit, right now I feel as if the world is inspecting its whip. I was careless and … I hope it will all work out, but in my mind’s eye, the whip is being inspected. Then again, the least little thing goes wrong, even for a moment, and I’m bewailing my tragic fate.

Some are truly attacked, and whose lives could be described by the psalm. And because we live within time, we are confused and even angry that these people should face such a fate, day after day or year after year. How can God be so cruel? When is He going to cut the ropes of the wicked? When are the wicked going to disappear like grass on a rooftop?

It doesn’t help us much to consider that our whole lives are less than a grain of sand in comparison to eternity. That doesn’t change the pain, fear, or anxiety we feel now because we are so unused to thinking in the long-run terms, let alone eternal terms. And Scripture is full of people who cry out to God about their short-run pains and fears and are helped. Sometimes that help is a way out of the problem. Sometimes, it involves going back into the negative circumstances.

As I think about this, Hagar comes to mind. She was an Egyptian slave who belonged to Sarai, whom Sarai gave to Abram as her surrogate to produce an heir. After Hagar got pregnant, she got arrogant. Eventually, she ran away and met God in the desert. He sent her back to Sarai with instructions to submit. But she referred to God as the God who saw her.

When we are in our circumstances, having a God who sees us may be more important than having a God who blindly does what we want Him to.