LifeLink Devotional

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Psalms 113:5 – 6 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

It was a Friday morning many years ago. I climbed onto the roof of my house at 6:30 in the morning to start removing two layers of old shingles. As I stood there on the peak of the garage looking down at the lawn, two little bunnies were playing in the yard. They had no idea that I was there, but I could see them perfectly. I wondered what else I could see from my vantage point.

I turned around and looked at the back yard, and there were two adult bunnies playing along the edge of the woods. A squirrel ran from tree to tree looking for nuts, not realizing he would find one on the roof. The bright red cardinal that frequents our birdfeeder sang loudly from the treetop behind the house, and I was almost eye-level with him. I saw the chipmunk sneak out of the wood pile and scavenge fallen sunflower seeds from under the birdfeeder.

I thought about all the other life that exists in the grass and dirt but was out of my visual range because I was up so high. If I had wanted to see more, I would have had to come down off of the roof and stoop down into the grass to see what was there. But I didn’t want to come down – not because I had work to do, but because of the feeling I was experiencing. It was a different feeling than the one I usually have when I see those things from ground level. Even though nothing had changed about who I was or what I could do, I felt more powerful. I felt like I was in control of my domain. I wasn’t, but I had that feeling because I was looking at everything from a different perspective. I liked how it made me feel. I know now that I couldn’t be trusted with that kind of power and control, because I would take pride in it and exploit it for my own benefit.

Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high?

God is all-powerful. He is in absolute control. He is so great and awesome that He has to stoop down to look at the earth as I would have to stoop down to look at an ant entering its hole in my lawn.

And He did! The great and awesome God who stands above the heavens stoops down to observe every detail of my life and to include me in His purpose.

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised.

I now have another reason to praise Him daily – He stoops.

After spending 14 hours on my roof that Friday, I was not able to stoop. But God has not grown weary from being over all the earth. His exalted position and power have not alienated Him from His creation. He stoops down to not only look at us, but to know us. He does not stoop to exploit us but to love us. He stoops down to cuddle us like I wanted to do with the baby bunnies. He stoops down to feed us like I feed the cardinal. He stoops down to give our lives meaning and purpose and fulfillment.

God stoops down!

Let the name of the Lord be praised both now and forever more!

Pastor John