Psalm 113:7-9 – “Glory”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Raising [the] poor from the dust, He raises [the] needy from the dung pile,

⁸to make [him] dwell with nobles, with the nobles of his people,

⁹making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons,

    joyful.

Praise the LORD.

There are a few more observations I’d like to record before I leave Psalm 113 and go back to my study of James.

First of all, as I read these three last verses over and over, about how the Lord stoops down to redeem people, it occurs to me that is exactly who we should be. A Redeemer is the very essence of who God is. It is His glory that He looks down from Heaven, even stoops down, sees the horrific mess we are and, rather than just destroying us all, seeks to redeem us. And His children should be like Him!

That was in part the message of Psalm 111 and 112 – 111 being about who God is and 112 about who His people are, which is like Him. In 111:4, He is “gracious and compassionate.” In 112:4, His people are “gracious and compassionate and righteous.” In 111:5, He “provides food for those who fear Him.” In 112:9, the godly man “has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor.” What Paul would say in II Cor 3:18 is true, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory …” Once again, that is precisely why “Mary has chosen the better part,” – because it is in beholding the face of the Lord that we are changed into His glory. As we see Him in His amazing grace, the very seeing transforms our hearts and makes us new.

Such is the case before us in Psalm 113. How could we read what a redeeming God He is, how could we contemplate how Jesus stepped down out of Heaven to redeem us from the mess of who we are, how much God cares about people in their distress, and not be moved to say, “Lord, I want to be like You. Help me today to be a redeemer. Help me to see people, not for the mess they are, but for the glory that could be theirs if somehow they could but know You too. Jesus help me to genuinely love people – like You do. When I face the ‘difficult’ situations of my day, where perhaps people are just plain being bad, or treating me badly, or ‘failing’ in a thousand different ways, give me a heart that longs to redeem them, to somehow love the person, to lift them from who they are to who they really should be. Help me remember who You are … and make me like You.”

Another thing that jumps off the page at me is to notice that, in 111 we see how great God is, how “Great are the works of the Lord,” then in 112 we see that psalm start with a statement how blessed are those who follow Him. And what is the first blessing mentioned? See 112:2 – “his children.” And where does 113 end? In v9, with “a happy mother of children.” Isn’t it interesting that this exalted discussion of the High God and His blessings begins and ends with children? Isn’t it interesting that it begins with a father and his children and ends with a mother and her children? God knows the family is the very cradle of civilization itself. God knows “the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

I could go on and on with this point but I fear that, in our ungodliness as a nation, one of the things we have lost sight of is the unfathomable blessing of children. The blessing of children, the importance of family, is what every church should heavily emphasize, what every government statement and program should encourage. The very best thing we can all do for each other is foster a culture that encourages young parents to have lots of children and make their love and training of paramount importance. “Blessing” in this world begins and ends with children – and may an old man add, grandchildren! I love how even the prophet Malachi would have us know that when real revival happens, when a people’s hearts are turned to the Lord, what will we see happen? We’ll see the Lord “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and children to their fathers.” May He grant in His mercy that America might turn again to Him and bless our children!

I think I could keep looking back over these three amazing psalms and find more and more praises, more and more of His wonders, but, alas, as always, I need to say good-bye to my good friends, and head back to my study of James.

This study of Psalm 111, 112, and 113 has been like a visit to Heaven itself. I feel I have seen the face of God in many ways like never before. I fear it will all have too little effect on me. But I must entrust myself to Grace and be confident He who began a good work will continue. I pray the glimpses I have seen of Him will in fact change me forever. Soli Deo Gloria!

Psalm 113:7-9 – “The Redeemer Fractal”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Raising [the] poor from the dust, He raises [the] needy from the dung pile,

⁸to make [him] dwell with nobles, with the nobles of his people,

⁹making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons,

    joyful.

Praise the LORD.

Before I leave these verses, particularly 7-9, I want to record what I think to be a salient observation. I have often noted what I think to be a prevailing deficiency in our Western culture. That deficiency is imagining the entire world is ruled by what I call linear logic. Linear logic is the kind of thinking which lends itself easily to Roman Numeral outlines, and time lines, the “this, then this, then this” kind of thinking.  

I would suggest that, in trying to see our world that way, we are missing what I rather think is the predominant logic of life itself, and that is “fractal” logic. A fractal is a pattern that repeats itself an infinite number of times and on an infinite number of scales. In other words, it is the pattern itself which is the logic. Once you see and recognize the pattern, you then begin seeing that same pattern in many other situations. My argument is that that is logical, that that is a form of logic, just the same as any linear “this, then this, then this.”

A fractal defies Roman Numeral outlines, yet it is still quite logical. Probably one of the best examples is a family tree. First of all, note we can call it a “tree.” Why? Because a tree is a form of logic – it is a pattern, a fractal. Looking at any family tree, what do we see? We see a man and a woman who married, then had children. And what did the children do? They grew up and married and those couples had children. You could use a Roman Numeral outline perhaps to identify each generation and call it “the descending generations of Bob and Sue,” but how do you show from one line to the next the interrelationship between the individual families? The best way to depict a family’s lineage is not a Roman Numeral outline, but rather by drawing up a family tree. It is a pattern that repeats itself. It is the pattern itself that is logical. Then, not only is there the repeating pattern of fathers, mothers, and children, next add in the thought that the children look like their parents. What is that? Is it not another repeating pattern? Then add in that people beget people, raccoons beget raccoons, tigers beget tigers. What is that? Is it not another example of repeating patterns?

In fact, fractals are all around us everywhere we might look. I would suggest that, particularly when it comes to living things and living systems, the predominating logic is actually not linear but rather fractal. I have suggested before and continue to maintain that the predominant logic of life itself is fractal.

What does all of this have to do with  Psalm 113:7-9? I guess I’m just wanting to suggest that I think it important to recognize that these three verses are an example of fractal logic. They are presenting before our minds a pattern which, if we would but look around, we’ll see in a million different ways and on a million different scales.

The verses say,

⁷Raising [the] poor from the dust, He raises [the] needy from the dung pile,

⁸to make [him] dwell with nobles, with the nobles of his people,

⁹making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons,

    joyful.

Praise the LORD.

People who see the world only through linear logic would say we need to decide whether, in this passage, the Lord is simply making a statement as to His activities or whether He’s referring to the much bigger business of redemption? Those people would insist you must choose. “It cannot be both,” they would say. Fractal logic would say, “No. You don’t understand. What He is presenting to us is a pattern of His workings and the statement is true because it fits His pattern.” What this means is, it is okay to see that both are true. What these verses are presenting to us is one example of the fact that our God is a redeeming God. It is a pattern of who He is that, everywhere He goes, everything He does, He is redeeming. It is true every day of my life. It is true every minute of my life. It is true of my entire life. It is true of my eternity. It is true of everyone’s eternity. It is true because that is who He is. It is part of the logic of life itself that our God is a redeeming God. To fail to see that is to miss a prevailing truth of our very existence.

That being said, we can take these verses quite literally and observe that, at times, the Lord actually does take someone who was poor or in some way needy and raise them from that condition – and in fact, doesn’t just “raise” them but actually gives them some measure of honor. He does at times allow women, though barren, to conceive and bear children. Literally – just like it says here in Psalm 113:7-9. Our God is a literal Redeemer. But beyond those obvious, literal examples, it is also imminently true that He finds all of us in a million different ways “poor and needy and barren” and “raises” us. I almost daily find myself in situations where I honestly do not know what to do. I pray and ask for His help and time and time again, He sends just the right thought or just the right person at just the right time and grants me success. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind this is exactly what Psalm 113:9-7 is talking about. Me poor? Yep. Me needy? Yep. Me barren. Yep. He raises me? Yep. Gives me honor I don’t really deserve? Yep. It is the Redeemer fractal that I’m seeing all day every day.

But then we can keep going. Salvation itself is this same Redeemer fractal. Can we see in Psalm 113:7-9 the redemption of the human race? I say yes. Did God find us poor and in the dust? Did He find us needy on a dunghill? Did He find us barren? As many, many authors have observed, the answer is a resounding Yes! The fall of Adam plunged all mankind into the poverty of sin. In order “raise” us, God has to stoop down and lift us from the putrid filth and stench and disease of the dunghill we have created for ourselves. Jesus came down to actually live among us, to be surrounded by evil and brokenness, and to raise us to be kings and priests unto our God.

And I could go on from there. What about the redemption of the entire Creation? “The Creation itself waits in eager anticipation for the sons of God to be revealed … the Creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:19-21). It’s the same pattern – the Redeemer pattern. It is a fractal of our very existence, true in a million different ways and on a million different scales.

I suppose my bottom line is simply to assert that we don’t need to engage in some sort of exegetical debate to determine which of the above applications are intended in this passage. They’re all true – because they are an expression of a fractal, a pattern of truth which exists because that is who our God is – our Redeemer God and “in Him we live and move and have our being.”

Psalm 113:7-9 – “Kindness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Raising [the] poor from the dust, He raises [the] needy from the dung pile,

⁸to make [him] dwell with nobles, with the nobles of his people,

⁹making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons,

    joyful.

Praise the LORD.

One of the reasons I have particularly enjoyed studying the Bible over the years is because it helps me to know God for who He really is. This world is so full of totally misguided views of God. It is sad that so few people ever really “know” Him, that is, know Him for who He really is and not for who everyone seems to think He is. If we study the Bible, we get to see firsthand, for ourselves, exactly who He really is – and who He isn’t. What particularly always amazes me is to see how unbelievably kind He is. Perhaps it is because we are all so full of sin, but for whatever reason, we seem to naturally expect Him to be angry and fed up with us. We expect Him to be occupied with “important” matters, not the petty details of our unimportant existence. Perhaps on the “religious” side of things, we expect Him to be occupied with “church” business and evangelistic campaigns and missionaries to Africa and such, and that it certainly can’t be important to Him that I’m going to the grocery store.

Can I say that, after having studied the Bible personally for nearly 40 years, those are all misguided views of God? He is none of the above. He is a God who cares intimately that I’m going to the grocery store. If that is what I need to do for the next hour, He is supremely interested. He loves me. He wants to go with me. He wants to help me, to be my strength and shield. He wants to help me love people even as I go – love my family in the going itself, love the people I interact with, acquaintances I happen to run into, and just in general to help me live my faith as I go. Actually, He is so involved, it isn’t even really my going. It is His and He’s allowing me to be a part of whatever it is He happens to be up to. My life is His life, even in things as simple as “going to the grocery store.”

The passage before us is just another place where I see all of this in the Bible. Look at it. This series of Psalms 111, 112, and then 113, is a passage of exalted praises to the God of Heaven, the High One of glory, and yet what do we find Him doing? Look back through these three psalms and what do you see? You’ll see verse after verse of how great God is, mingled with verse after verse of kindness to His people. And even more than that, as we see in 113:7-9, that kindness even seeks out the very lowest of people to shower His kindnesses on them.

What is particularly striking me today is this final verse, 113:9: ^“making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons, joyful. Praise the LORD.” Notice again, this verse is the conclusion of 111, 112, and 113. These three psalms have pondered the exalted greatness of God, the One “exalted over all the nations, His glory above the heavens.” And yet where does it all end? What does the final verse say? It is a verse that includes the words “house,” “mother,” “sons,” and “joyful.”  

Does anyone else see what I see? Isn’t this beyond amazing? Where does the exalted greatness of God leave us? In the affairs of a palace somewhere? In a temple? In some amazing church service? Certainly He is in all those places, but here we find ourselves in a home, with a mother and her children, joyful. And there we conclude it all with the words, “Praise the Lord.” That’s the kind of God He is. Straight from the Bible. No one’s opinion. There right in front of us. He is the High and exalted One who considers it one of His great works to place mothers in homes with their children, joyful.

Kindness. Just as the Bible says, “God is love.” He knows the deepest needs of our hearts. He knows the greatest joys. He knows the deepest desires of our hearts – oftentimes even though we ourselves do not. My wife and I would be quick to acknowledge we are the last people in the world the Lord should have ever entrusted and blessed with children. And yet He did. And now He’s even given us grandchildren. The grace and kindness in all of that makes we wish I could just praise Him for all eternity. Hmmm. Guess that is what I’ll do! The trick is to keep these thoughts in my mind and praise Him today – to live in love for Him today in my little world – the one where I think I have big problems.

Lord, help me remember today Your great kindness, and help me trust You and love You no matter what “challenges” I think I have to face.

Thank You for letting me know You – the real You – the You You told us You are in Your Word. You are everything my silly heart could have ever dreamed You’d be – and so much more.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113:7-9 – “Nothingness”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Raising [the] poor from the dust, He raises [the] needy from the dung pile,

⁸to make [him] dwell with nobles, with the nobles of his people,

⁹making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons,

    joyful.

Praise the LORD.

Isn’t it interesting to note who it is that God “raises?” He raises the poor, the needy, and the barren!

The Lord, of course, cares about everyone, but it is the unchanging character of His grace that He favors the poor. “For God resists the proud, but gives His grace to the humble.” It is possible (though extremely rare) to be rich in this world and yet be “poor in spirit.” Jesus accosted the wealthy Laodiceans in Rev 3:17, “You say, ‘I am rich …,’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” Their problem was that they let their outward prosperity blind them to their spiritual reality. “Nothing in my hand I bring, only to Thy Cross I cling.”

In some cases, this Divine favor of “the poor” is quite literal – “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith?” As I’ve noted many times before, it is and always has simply been true that faith belongs mostly to the poor of this world. Like the Laodiceans, most people, as they become more wealthy, find less and less need of a God of grace. It is sad but true that human misery helps us to see our need of God.

But the real “poor” and “needy” and “barren” which the Lord sees is in our hearts, not our bank accounts. It’s when we know that we’re “poor” and in “the dust” that the Lord can raise us up. “For this is what the high and exalted One says-- He who lives forever, whose Name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones” (Isa 57:15).

What a wonderful God we serve! “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither My ways your ways.” In our world, the people who get “noticed” and favored are the ones who are “mighty” in some sense – the rich, the powerful, the talented, the athletic, the beautiful. We then easily imagine that somehow the Lord just can’t possibly be too interested in me. Of course He can’t use me for much. There’s simply not much to use. I’m “none of the above.” Yet, here in Psalm 113:7, we find the High One stooping down, not to find the mighty and make them more mighty, but to raise the poor and needy! To raise who? Those of us with “not much to offer!”

And then think about this: What does He raise them to? In verse 8, He “seats them with nobles, the nobles of their people.” Once again, in our world, how common is it that people will “raise themselves” and maybe they really do “rise” to something, yet they achieve it in dishonor. There are, of course, many rich people, who may in fact get rich, but everyone hates them. There are people who rose to some high accomplishment but did so neglecting their family, only to have children who bring them disgrace. Such is all too often the world we create for ourselves. But what about our Lord? When He raises us up, even in the raising, He gives us honor. “The blessing of the Lord makes us rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Prov 10:22). “A good name is more to be desired than riches” (Prov 22:1). David time and time again would not “raise” himself (as in not killing Saul or Nabal) and when God did make him king, he could hold that position with a clear conscience. “Better a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it” (Prov 15:16).

All of this just makes my head spin. What a wonderful God He is. He is the very God we all so badly need. I so don’t deserve the least of His kindness. I certainly don’t deserve that He should actually notice me or help me or use me for anything. And I’m so deeply aware there’s not much here to use. Everywhere I look there are people way more capable than me. What He really should do is just step His foot down from Heaven and squash me like a bug on the sidewalk. That is seriously what He should do. But, as I sit here in all my miserableness, my heart says, “But I don’t want Him to. I do want to live. I do want to be loved. I do want to believe I can actually be part of something important.” And what do I find as I read His Word? “He raises the poor from the dust and the needy from the dunghill to seat them with nobles!”

The truth is that I am the only “me” He can use. I have no one else to offer. I’m the only “me” that can go to work today, the only “me” who can even try to love people and make any difference at all. This psalm gives us all the wonderful news that the High One of Heaven is okay with that. The “me” you are is all He’s asking for. Poor? Needy? Barren? You’re in fact the very people He’s looking for.

God help me today to fall into the arms of Your grace, to let You accept me “just as I am” and to let You do whatever You see fit with the so little I have to offer. Help me to be confident in You and not be overwhelmed with my own nothingness. Jesus, be my Savior. Spirit, be my strength. And somehow may the wonder of who You are shine out of my heart.

Psalm 113:7-9 – “Good Management”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁷Raising [the] poor from the dust, He raises [the] needy from the dung pile,

⁸to make [him] dwell with nobles, with the nobles of his people,

⁹making [the] barren [woman] to dwell [in] the house, the mother of the sons,

    joyful.

Praise the LORD.

These are amazing verses. Who knows? I might have to write several blogs to cover all I think I’m learning.

In verses 4 and 5 we praised the Lord because He is the High God, the One who sits enthroned above everything. In verses 1-3, we acknowledged this great God is worthy of praise from everyone, everywhere, all the time. He simply is El Elyon, the Most High God.

Then in v6 we marveled at the fact that this Most High God stoops down to observe what is happening here. As I said earlier, that is so unlike humans who, as they rise “higher,” get more and more inaccessible. It is and always has been endearing to any people where their rulers “come down” to actually be with their people and care about them.

That reminds me of a very large factory where several friends of mine worked, the Braun Corporation in Winamac, Indiana. Ralph Braun started the business in his garage and, over the years, turned it into a massive international business. One day my friend was relating, with obvious affection, how for years Ralph had made it a point from time to time to simply travel around the plant and visit with his workers, listen to them, encourage them, and be aware of their needs. Those memories brought a big smile to my friend’s face, then suddenly his face fell, and he said sadly, “He doesn’t do that anymore.”

Such is our habit as human beings and sadly so.

Wonder of wonders is that the Most High God isn’t like that. He “stoops down” to see us.

“But,” someone might ask, “What does He stoop down to see? What does He stoop down for? Why does He ‘visit’ us?”

What does He stoop down for? I think this is precisely a point of profound consequence. What is your answer or mine? What, in your heart of hearts, do you believe He “stoops down” for? I fear that too many people, if they were honest, would say they fear He stoops down to look at their life and judge them. He stoops down to see their faults and failures, to punish them for their sins. In their heart of hearts, they would prefer He just stay up in Heaven and not be stooping down. Would I be wrong to suggest that is how most people see God – that that is the very reason why they keep Him at arms’ length, why they shut him out of their thoughts – because they fear He will only criticize them? Who hasn’t heard preachers warning them, “God is watching you! You’d better do what’s right!” And granted there is an element of truth to that statement. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But it is only the beginning. The end of wisdom is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and your neighbor as yourself.

And what Psalm 113:7-9 would teach us, I believe, is precisely this, to love the Lord our God.

How so?

Look at the passage. When our God stoops down, what does He do?

He raises the poor from the dust
    and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
He seats them with princes,
    with the princes of his people.
He settles the childless woman in her home
    as a happy mother of children.

Grace. Grace. Grace. Our God stoops down to do us good! Isn’t that precisely what He said? “For God sent not His Son to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:17). When God Himself stepped down and walked in our world, what did He do? He healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, made the lame to walk again, and died on a Cross to save us from our sins! Our God is to us a Rock, a Refuge, a Shelter in the time of storm. He would whisper in our ear, “I know the plans I have for you, plans to do you good and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.”

Someone might ask, “But what about like Sodom and Gomorrah? God stooped down to see them and rained fire and sulfur to destroy them. Yes, that is true. But “even in judgment, He remembers mercy.” Read Psalm 113 again and realize that judgment is not what He lives for. He is love. He would have far rather seen them repent and, like Jonah and Nineveh, He would have spared them and blessed them instead.

I am marveling in these thoughts this week. I thought a lot about the High God earlier. I don’t know that I’ve ever been impressed before with just how high He is, that His infinity stretches out to the furthest star and down to the tiniest atom. But then to think that same God stoops down to care about me? That He stoops down not to judge me – which I deeply deserve – but rather to love me and do me good???? Mi-cha-el?? Who is like our God?? Amazing grace. How sweet the sound!

But while I’m marveling in who God is, my heart turns to who we are. Having studied this, I think I now really, really understand why it so saddened my friend’s heart, “He doesn’t do that anymore.” Do you see what I see? It is godly to stoop down and care about the people “below” us. What Ralph was doing was right. We should “get around” and see “our” people. We should not let our “position” make us inaccessible, but instead use it to do good to our people. That is good management. It is good rule. And it is good because it is godly!

I guess what is impacting me most is simply seeing this quality in God. No wonder the people loved Diana. As always, here I sit at His feet, seeing Him in His glory, and I understand in a new and deeper way who I want to be – and why. Oh, to see His face, how different would we be as managers and teachers and parents – to have hearts filled with grace that long not to condemn our world, but to save it through Him? – to make it a point of our everyday lives to use “position” (whatever that might mean) to do people good???

No wonder His name is Redeemer. “O, to be like Thee.”

Psalm 113:5,6 – “Stooping”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

⁵Who [is] like the LORD our God, causing to be high to dwell,

⁶the One causing to be low to look on the heavens and on the earth?

Verse 5 asks, “Who is like the LORD our God?” That is one of my favorite questions. It is actually the meaning of the name Michael – Mi-cha-el = Who?-like-God? I’ve always found it interesting that is the name of the good angel Michael – Who is like God?, while Satan, the bad angel, says in his heart, “I will be like the Most High.” A part of Satan’s downfall was that he could not embrace that he was not like God. That leads my own heart to the conclusion this is no trivial question. Who is like God? There needs to be in our heart of hearts the settled conclusion that, in fact, our God is high above all else, that there is no one like Him, that He is God and we are but angels and men and raccoons, always, always, always dwelling ourselves in a very small, very limited perspective of the totality of reality.

I sincerely believe all of this is fundamentally critical to a right view of our existence. However, having said that, I acknowledge I could have derived all those observations from verse 4, ^“High above all of nations [is] the LORD, His glory above the heavens.”  Verses 5 and 6 would consent to all of this but then lead us on to one of the most sublime truths our hearts can ever ponder.

And what is that? Can this High God ever trouble Himself with anything so mundane as our pathetic little world? “Surely not,” some would say. The deists of old held that the Lord simply set in motion the laws of nature, then retreated back to His high and lofty home to see how it would all work out. Such is invariably the case with men. The “higher” they rise, the less willing or interested they become in the affairs of those “below” them. One of the things that endeared Diana to the British people was that, though herself a princess, she seemed to care about common people. But notice that Her gentle, genuine, and personal attention endeared her specifically because it was so unusual. Men simply aren’t usually like that.

Is our God? Can He who sits infinitely high above all nations, who spoke a universe into being, genuinely care about the minor details of that universe? Hear what He says, “For this is what the high and exalted One says -- He who lives forever, whose Name is Holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones” (Isaiah 57:15). “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (Matthew 6:26). “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and faithful in all He does. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth” (Psalm 145:16-18).

So says our passage before us today, “Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?”  The “High One” stoops down! Yes, He does care intimately about the most minute and seemingly mundane details of not only our existence but even that of birds and flowers.

Wonder of wonders! He who is infinitely great extends that infinity not only to the furthest star of our universe but also to the smallest atom. He who minds the spinning of galaxies knows the number of hairs on each of our heads!

How can this be? Because He is God, not man. We are incorrigibly prone to measure Him by us, to only understand Him in light of understanding us; but to others He has said, “You thought I was such a one as you are!” He is not. He is God.

Our God is not only great, greater, and greatest, He is so great that His greatness reaches back to include us.

And what is the supreme example of this High God’s “stooping down?” Is it not when “God so loved the world, He gave His only Son” … when “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” – Jesus, our Immanuel, the One who “was with God and was God” but “thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself nothing” and was born a helpless baby, one of us, to live with us, to walk with us, to die for us, to be our Savior? Jesus ought to be the end of any doubts the world ever entertained whether the High and Lofty One still cares about His universe.

This all leads me to conclude we really, seriously have nothing to worry about! It is one of the wonders of grace to know that our God infinitely cares about the most minute details of our every second. As I sit here, my heart tells me, if I could just keep this view of God in my head, I could lay worry aside forever and live out my days in endless joy. And I should. I’m also quite sure I won’t pull it off. If somehow in His great grace, He would grant such a change in me, it could happen in a heartbeat. But I have no confidence in me. God help me. I do believe; help my unbelief.

Who is like the LORD, our God?

How privileged we are that our God, our Creator, is, even in His infinite greatness, love personified. He is infinite love, great enough to create a beautiful universe, and great enough to include the tiniest atom – and somewhere in the middle there, to actually care about rebellious, broken worms. The High One stoops down!

No wonder the Psalm begins and ends with “Praise the LORD!”