Psalm 113:6
“Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?”
A few years ago my wife and I were window shopping at an outdoor mall in southern California when we stumbled onto a crowd of people huddled around a large telescope. We decided to stand in line and see what they were looking at. When our turn came to look through the view finder we were stunned. From the courtyard of the mall we were able to see the rings around Saturn. We took advantage of the moment and allowed the young man who owned the telescope to point out distant stars and even a distant galaxy. Technology has provided us with things that were unthinkable during most of human history, and there in the mall we were able to observe the heavens. I was struck both by the majesty of the heavens and by the advances of science that would allow the casual shopper a glimpse into the heavens. But I did realize that this was only possible because of the highest reaches of human development. Centuries of studying the stars had come together at that moment to provide a telescope that could view the heavens.
I often think of that when I read the Psalmists words;
“Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?”
What takes the height of human development to glance at, God has to bow to look into. As majestic as creation may ever seem the creator is much more magnificent. His glory is above the heavens.
Jim
Over the years the Lord has been gracious enough to allow a handful people into my life that have had a tremendous influence upon me both as a person and as a pastor. One such person is Barbara Hemple. She and her husband Bob moved to town to be close to their daughter and grandchildren. I can still remember our first conversation about serving the Lord, Barbara had spent several years as a kindergarten teacher at a Christian school. I think she felt a bit of responsibility to the children’s ministry, however she shared with me that she thought maybe the Lord was calling her to serve in a different way. I told her that since I was often a bit like an absent minded professor I could use someone who would run the church office and serve as my secretary. She jumped at the chance and for several years became part of the backbone of the ministry. (The staff used to say that I could leave without a problem but if Barbara goes the whole place will fall apart.)
This psalm is one of the most detailed prophecies of Christ in the Old Testament. It goes into great detail to speak of the person and the work of the Messiah. In it we find reference to the deity of Christ when we read, “The Lord said unto my Lord.” This is nothing short of the Father referring to the Son as Yahweh. We also find reference to the Sufferings of Christ, in that he was consecrated a priest after the order of Melchizedek who would offer himself in our place in order to make a way for man to have access to God. We also see the resurrection and Ascension when we read, “Sit thou on my right hand.” And finally we see reference to the final Judgment, when all Christ’s enemies will be put under his feet.
The evolution of love is seen in the relationship between children and parents. An infant child cannot survive on his own and is completely dependent upon the mercy, grace and love of the parents. In a proper relationship the parents give time, energy, even sleep for the benefit of the child. As the relationship develops so does the love, it is not long before the parents begin to see the return in their investment. I can remember being so excited when my children began to smile and laugh, or when they would crawl across the room only to get up on my lap and snuggle. What a joy! Just this week I received messages from each of my boys expressing Father’s Day wishes in their own humorous ways. Our relationship has become one of an exchange of love. This Psalm is an illustration of that kind of love relationship with God. The Psalmist cries out with thankful praise as a response to what God has done for them. Paul used an interesting word for thanks when writing to Timothy, he said “Thanks be to God…” and the word he used was “karis” which is the word used to speak of God’s giving nature. Because of the grace we have received from the Lord, we give grace back to Him.
Jim Gallagher 