Individual Attention

“From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.” (Ps 33:14 AV)

One little word is the center of my thoughts.  That one little word, ‘all’.  That includes all individuals that exist.  God looks upon us all.  Looking upon has the understanding of a deep interest than a mere glance or impersonal observation.  When the LORD looks upon the individuals of His creation, He is considering their condition and situation.  His interest is not merely academic.  We are not a simple curiosity or form of entertainment.  When the LORD looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth is deeply interested in them as individuals.  He is moved by their condition.  He cares for them and loves them more than they will ever know.  How many?  All!

It is easy to forget God’s personal interest in us.  I grew up in a fairly large family.  There were eleven kids.  Spreading attention around to eleven is almost impossible.  We all felt left out at one time or another.  I had three sons and they still give me a hard time about who my favorite might be.  As human beings, we do not have an infinite capacity for love and attention.  It is humanly impossible to affirm all your children equally, all the time.  I made the statement in church the other day that there is no comparable person or object to God.  When we try to explain Him, we bump up against His holiness.  There is no other infinite being of a pure and perfect nature to whom we can compare Him.  When we try, we end up contradicting the nature and person of God.  It is quite impossible.  So, when we imagine a God who can look upon us individually, there is no other comparison.  To do so would be like looking into a microscope and observing all the individual cells all that the same time with equal and infinite interest.  But that is exactly what God is capable of and does.

The closest comparison I can come up with is our Wednesday evening prayer time.  We pair off and pray.  An observer would note may voices in the auditorium.  We are praying all at once.  And doing so out loud.  Yet, none of us would consider that God is incapable of listening to each individual as though they are the only one praying.  It doesn’t cross my mind that the LORD is incapable of hearing my prayer as if it is the only one while many others are thinking and believing the same thing.  God care about all.  He looks upon all.  Not as a whole.  But as individuals.  His relationship with each of His children is as if he and the LORD are the only two in existence.  This is the wonder of God’s infinite personhood.  WOW.