EXTOLLING GOD

Meditations on Psalm 138

PRAISE FOR THE LOOK OF THE LORD

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"Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar."
Psalm 138:6

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THIS PSALM, as we have seen, is a vehicle of praise. David is praising God and the Psalm is the expression of this praise. Each part David speaks of another reason for his praising and worshipping the Lord, and in verse 6 David is praising God because of the way he looks on people in this world, and the wonder of it. God is on high, complete in perfection and purity, yet he looks on the lowly, though he knows the proud from afar. It is this look of the Lord which is our theme, and our object is to see and understand it in the words of David, that we may be moved to the same praise as David expressed.

THE FACT NOTED

The Lord looks on the lowly. This is a wonderful blessing and means that no one need be excluded from God's favour and love. It is not our sins which cause God not to look on us, though he hates our sins, and they are an offence to him. What causes God to just know us from afar and without favour, is when we are not ready to own our sins, and when we refuse to be ashamed and sorry for them, and imagine that we they are of no consequence, imagining ourselves to be rather fine.

God's knows all about us, and the total depth of our failure to live up to his glory. There is no secret we can hide from him. Though in his justice and purity he hates evil and must judge and punish the sinner, when we humbly confess our sin before him, and cry for mercy, he is ready to forgive, and is justly able to account us righteous in his eyes, because in the victory of the life, death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, he has worked a complete atonement for our sins.

It is not our sins that in the end condemn us to hell; it is rather our pride and unwillingness to humble ourselves before God, confess our failure, and in lowliness sue for mercy. When David says that the Lord knows the proud from afar, he is expressing the truth that the Lord does not overlook sin, and if someone is too proud to be lowly before him, this does not mean that they escape his notice. Rather it simply means he notes every sin and every action and will call us to account on the day of judgement. He knows us from afar if we are proud because his knowing does not bring the Lord close in love, but makes him our judge afar from us.

David is thrilled with this wonder of the Lord looking upon the lowly, because it means no one need ever feel excluded from God's love if only they will be humble before him. It means that no one need suffer eternal judgement, but rather salvation.

The wonder of David's praise is that he sees the highness of the Lord. He is not only eternal and above us as God, but he is high above us in quality. He is holy, pure and undefiled. Sin and evil is an offence to him. It is an offence to his glory, and a shame for him to look upon, yet this high God will look upon sinners if they will humbly come to him in repentance.

DISTINGUISHING LOWLINESS AND PRIDE

It is so important, in the light of this truth from God, that we understand properly what Scripture means by lowliness and being proud. Though the Bible does give more formal instruction, as Jesus did in the first three Beatitudes in St.Matthew 5:3-5, where we have a classic description of lowliness; we always find it easier to understand something when we are given a concrete example, rather than a formal definition. Jesus has given us this example when he told the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector praying in the temple.

This is found in St.Luke 18:9-14. The Pharisee praying with himself, telling God how good he felt he was, is a clear example of pride. Pride which we are considering is more pride in the moral and spiritual realm, than in the physical or temporal. There is no doubt that the Pharisee did live a highly moral life, but he had forgotten how far short he fell from godlike holiness, and he probably failed totally on the level of thoughts and emotions. The Pharisee did not understand that in relationship with God none of us can claim any moral or spiritual high ground, and that perfection is our duty to God anyway. For this reason any failure, however small, constitutes us as a sinner; so we have no room for pride.

Jesus tells us that the tax collector felt the guilt of his sins so much that he could not even lift his eyes to God. He just hung his head in humble confession of sin, and pleaded for mercy. He knew he had no rights before God. The point is that, though there is no doubt that he was a much greater sinner than the Pharisee, he was lowly before God. The amount of our sins is not the point. The thing necessary is to realise that we have nothing we can bring to God to bargain with, and only confession and humility is appropriate. But how glorious, and how it fills the heart with praise, to understand that far from disqualifying ourselves by admitting our guilt and undeserving, God will graciously show mercy and grace towards us when we do so.

THE NATURE OF GOD'S LOOK

What is the nature of this look of God? How does God look at the lowly.

Firstly, it is a saving look and a look of mercy. When we read the conclusion of the story of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we hear Jesus saying that the Tax Collector went home justified, rather than the Pharisee. By this we understand that the Tax Collector was forgiven, and accounted just before God, and he was saved from all the consequences before God, of his sins. This did not mean that there was no reparation to be made in this life, and the need to put thing right as far as possible. It does mean, however, that before God all his sins were cancelled, and God had no accusation to make against him.

Secondly, it is a renewing look. It is a look which changes our lives for good. In the account of the conversion of Zacchaeus another tax collector, which we read about in Luke 19:1-10; after Jesus had called him down from the tree, and said he was coming to dine with him, we read the words of Zacchaeus over that fellowship meal with Jesus. A complete change had taken place. Instead of greedily extorting as much money from people as he could, now he was going to give 50% of his wealth to the poor, and pledging to pay back all whom he had swindled, four times what he had taken from them. The look of Jesus is one that renews the inner life. We are created anew within, and there is a new creation which is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. This new life makes war against the sinful flesh within. The look of Jesus does not leave us as we were, but changes us for good.

Thirdly, the look of the Lord is a welcoming look of infinite love. From being alienated from God and the things of God, the Lord puts his Spirit within us, so that we begin to love what God loves, and appreciate the heavenly realm, and much more gives us a spirit of adoption, so that we know that God has made us members of his family, so that he is our Father in heaven, who loves us with an everlasting love.

Fourthly, the look of the Lord is one of care and protection and guidance and keeping. As our Father we are indelibly printed upon his heart. We belong to him. He has paid the infinitely costly price of the life of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, so that our title to heaven can never be disputed or taken from us. He has pledged his word that he will never leave us or forsake us, and that no one will pluck us out of his care. He is pledged to most surely keep us as his own beloved ones and safely bring us to heaven and eternity with him.

Thus the look of God upon the lowly is one of infinite love and grace, which acts to give us life and glory. No wonder David, who appreciated something of this in his life could not help praising God for looking upon him in his lowliness before him. Our praise issues from the same source, and is stimulated to great expression as we understand more deeply what the look of the Lord upon us means.

THE WONDER OF THE LOOK OF THE LORD

David's praise was so much more enhanced because of the wonder of the truth that God looked on the lowly. David understood something of the nature and splendour of God, and what a wide gulf there is between us and God in every way.

God is high above us as the creator must be above the ones he created. The creator is independent and has inherently in himself all the qualities and character of almighty greatness. His creatures can only, in their pristine state, be a reflection of that glory of God, and of necessity the creature owes everything to God. God still may then look upon his creation, and say that in his eyes it is very good, and promise to be a protector of and to love the one he created, but there is no obligation in God to do so.

If, however, as is the case, the creature rebels against the creator, who is high over all, then David understood that the creature could not only expect condemnation and rejection from God the creator, but also expect retribution against his sin. Yet David understood truly that God looked in love upon the sinner ready to be lowly before God. David expresses this wonder in the opening of our text when he says "Though the Lord is on high, ....". It is a wonder that God looks savingly, even on the lowly, but he does.

OUR RESPONSE TO THE LOOK OF THE LORD

For David his response is expressed in verse 1 of this Psalm which he composed. "I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the 'gods' I will sing your praise." The same response is expressed in so many hymns. "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all". Praise is not just with the voice, it is expressed in our whole life. Then again "and eternity's too short to utter all his praise". Then we have the same response on the lips of the redeemed church expressed in Revelation chapter 5. Many words of praise here culminate in the words "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever. Amen."

Praise to God for the way he deals with us sinners can never exhaust praise. It is the most glorious subject of praise that will occupy us for eternity. There can not be any more important or more glorious activity that we human beings can engage in. Praise of the Lord should be more on our lips and in our lives. How is this to be?

Praise will only grow as we perceive more and more clearly and deeply the wonder of the look of the Lord upon us, and the wonder that he looks on such sinners at all, and the wonder of all the implications of love and grace bound up in that look. Praise, like holy living, can not be created by command or from a sense of duty. It will only rise from our hearts as we appreciate the wonder of the glory of God in his redeeming love towards. How much more do we need to view, in the Bible, the redeeming love of God. How much more do preachers need to be filled with the wonder of the redeeming look of God upon the lowly, and preach it from the heart. Then will the church be moved to greater praise.