Scripture Focus: Psalm 144.3-5
3 Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
mere mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath;
their days are like a fleeting shadow.
5 Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
Student Writers Month is here: The student writers featured from July 15 to August 9 have received free coaching, ministry training, and seminars by special guests in addition to this publishing opportunity, the ability to re-publish their work elsewhere, and a stipend/scholarship for their work. A portion of all donations during these dates will be applied to the students’ stipends/scholarships. Find out more about the students at this link or give a one-time or recurring gift at this link.
Reflection: Bird’s Eye View
By Lark Kelsey
Whenever I fly I like to look out the window just after takeoff. Cars and trucks moving along the road begin to resemble children’s toys as we rise toward the clouds. Everything below becomes smaller and smaller, shrinking to insignificance compared with the immensity of the sky. The change in perspective is an opportunity for humility. Getting a bird’s eye view reminds us just how small we really are.
David’s wonder in Psalm 144 expresses a similar sentiment. He speaks of God’s power to deliver although he himself is helpless. While God’s nature is eternal, human life is fleeting. God is so far above that David marvels at why God thinks of humans at all.
David understands he is incapable of saving himself and needs rescue from someone on high. Whether by parting the heavens, touching the mountains, or sending forth lightning, David asks God to reach down and save him from his enemies. David compares his plight to drowning in mighty waters, looking for God to draw him up and out of the waves.
Like David, we need intervention. In a broken world, we often struggle to rise above the waves of life’s difficulties, whether caused by actual enemies or everyday obstacles. We are weighed down with the cares of this life and often feel powerless to change our circumstances.
Amazingly, we do not have a God who merely reaches down to lift us up but one who came down himself. He took on our form, our constraints, and lowered himself to our state to save us. Although God is so far beyond us, he does not treat our difficulties as trivial.
Like David, God will not save us from every trial or give us victory in every battle. Yet we can find comfort in God’s presence in the midst of all our problems. David calls God “My loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge” and so can we. (Psalm 144.2).
If we take a bird’s eye view of our problems, how do they compare to God’s power? No matter how insignificant our problems may seem from 35,000 feet, they are as important to God as if he was sitting on the couch with us. How can we find refuge in God’s presence with us today as we wait for relief?
Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Let me hear of your loving-kindness in the morning, for I put my trust in you; show me the road that I must walk, for I lift up my soul to you. — Psalm 143.8
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.
Today’s Readings
Isaiah 66 (Listen 5:20)
Psalms 144 (Listen 1:56)
Read more about A God Who Celebrates
O God, we are unworthy creatures who rejoice that you rejoice over us.
Read more about He Stoops to Raise
He strips himself.
He lays aside
His Heaven
His throne
His clothes
His life
