“For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands. O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.” (Ps 92:4-5 AV)
It is interesting. Our
learned writers do not know what specific work of which the psalmist references. They raise several possibilities from
creation itself to some or all specific works God shows toward the psalmist. The ambiguity seems to fuel too much
speculation and not enough application.
Let us simply assume the work of God is all the work of God. Whether it be His creation work or specific
works or providence towards the writer.
In other words, the psalmist is made glad because God interacts with His
creation and does a work. Doing a work
implies purpose. Doing a work implies goals. Doing a work implies forethought and
concern. The fact God is involved both
in a general way and a specific way is what gladdens the heart of our minstrel. Note the psalmist uses the singular and the
plural to describe what God does. The singular
use of the word is the general work of God.
That which He does for all. The
plural use of the word indicates specific acts of God towards the writer and others
with whom he is aware. In other words,
the psalmist is made glad and triumphs in the knowledge of an active God who involves
Himself in the affairs of mankind. A deist,
God is not.
Having spent many years in the woods, I can tell you much
goes unnoticed by the average explorer. Our church has a picnic every year. On the anniversary of our founding, we gather
at a county park and enjoy the day. This
park is on the shore of Lake Michigan and also abuts some wooded areas. As people do, when they get bored of company,
they take a walk into the ‘wilderness’.
Kids, especially, can be found running through the woods having a
time. However, most of the evidence of life
outside of a manicured lawn is missed. Evidence
of insect life, plant life, and animal life is completely hidden from the
untrained eye. One might look at a
squiggly line of smoothed bark on a tree and simply see a squiggly line. Others see the evidence of an insect that fed
on that bark. Some might notice a clump
of leaves on the ground. Others might
notice it was once a ground-nesting bird’s nest. Still, others may see a walnut shell broken
in two. Others see evidence of a
squirrel. Then there are the
malformations on the side of a tree. A
common sight no matter where you see it.
A simple gouge. Those of us in
the ‘know’ understand a deer rubbed his antlers on that tree so often, he rubbed
right through the bark. There is
evidence of a world we barely know because we are in too much of a hurry or we
are more interested in entertainment to notice a world we barely interact with.
The same is true with the saints. We can miss all that God is doing and suffer undo anxiety because of it. We run here and there. We get so focused on ourselves that we cannot stop and see what God is doing. We cannot notice how the LORD works all things perfectly, in His timing, and for His purposes. We are too temporally minded to understand God is at work all the time and those things that happen are not merely natural things that occur because of cosmic laws set up an eternity ago. We cannot see God because we are not looking for Him. We cannot see His work or His works because our eyes are blinded to them. The result is an absence of gladness and insufficient triumph. We live in misery and defeat because we do not have eyes that look for and find God. He is not in all our thoughts. Our writer chooses to live in gladness and victory. That is where he wants to dwell. One of the keys to doing that is looking for and finding the works of God. We open our eyes to what God is doing. We ask Him to show us His work. Looking for it long enough and often enough, we will see His hand regularly. It won’t be luck or chance. Whatever happens, will be a God Thing!
No comments:
Post a Comment