“So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.” (Ps 73:22-23 AV)
What a contrast. The assessment of David is not an
insult. Comparing himself to a beast is
not meant to be degrading as such. What
he is doing is comparing himself against the glory of God. Compared to God, we are nothing more than a beast. Putting it in a way which we might understand,
it would be comparable to say an ox or cow compared to the farmer that governs
him. Not that the farmer is anything
like God. But we get the picture. The underlined phrase is what stands out to
the saint. No matter how much below the
LORD we are, He never leaves nor forsakes.
To think that a God is so far above us that we are nothing but a dumb ox
before Him, yet He desires to fellowship is something to wonderous to
understand. This is David’s meaning
here. He cannot understand how so great a
God and Jehovah would even entertain the likes of simple men.
I have a wonderful dog. His name is Toby. Toby is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Cav, for short. Cavs were bread as people dogs. They were originally bred as feet
warmers. No kidding. A king and queen wanted warm feet while they
slept, so the breed was designed to sleep at the feet of their owners. The breed loves people. He literally flips when people other than
myself approach. We could be standing in
my front yard and people approach. He
spins around and flips the closer they get.
The closer they get, the more excited he becomes. Cavs love people and love to be loved on by
people. He is a lap sitter. He looks for any and all opportunity to sit
on a lap. The thing is because he is a
beast, he cannot appreciate what all this loving means from my perspective. No matter how cute he might be, he is still just
a dog. He does all those disgusting dog
things that other dogs do. I won’t
elaborate. Everyone knows exactly what I
mean. For a human to show affection
takes humility on the part of the human.
He must condescend to the state of a canine and meet his need. He will never understand this nor appreciate
this.
However, we have the capacity to reason. We can understand, at least in principle, what it means for an infinite God to keep company with a finite man. We can stop and appreciate what it takes for our holy God to keep company with wicked men. The question becomes, how much do we appreciate the heart of God? Do we really contemplate how absolutely absurd it is for God to desire the company with anyone but Himself, let alone pitiful mankind? This is the wonder which David spake of above. This took a lifetime to realize. Perhaps the shepherd boy realized just how pitiful God was to him because of his experience with sheep. Yet it took a lifetime of self-examination to truly appreciate the truth above. It still boggles the mind. Why would God want to keep company with the likes of me? Especially since I disappoint Him as much as I do! I may never be able to figure this out. And that is a good thing! The more of a mystery this is, the more I appreciate the reality of it. I am a beast. I am as dumb as an ox. Yet the master is always there with a love that I cannot comprehend. What a marvelous and gracious God we serve!
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