Skip to main content

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. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more