Psalms 121; 123-125
I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help. – Psalm 123:1 MSG
Where do you look when things are looking down? What about when things are looking up? David looked to God. In these four Psalms, labeled Songs of Ascent, David reveals his awareness of God as his source of strength, salvation, and grace. "So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He is gracious to us" (Psalms 123:2 NASB). Where we turn out attention during times of testing is a great revealer of our faith and in what we put our trust. In financial difficulty do we look to our bank accounts or our ability to generate income? When we face relationship difficulties do we look for a little time to pass to get us through the uncomfortable moments? When our health suffers to we look to the wonders of modern medicine to give us hope and healing? Where do we turn our eyes in the hard times and in the good times? When all is well, do we look to ourselves as the source of our abundance and blessing – do we take credit for our seeming success?
David had been through some tough times, and it had taught him to turn to God. Tough times have a tendency to do that. But now his fortunes were about to change. He was moving from the cave to the palace. He was finally going to be the king of Israel. But the lessons he learned on the run from Saul were going to pay big dividends now that he was on the throne. He had learned that God was the source of his comfort, hope, protection, and success. "If the LORD had not been on our side when people rose up against us, they would have swallowed us alive because of their burning anger against us" (Psalms 124:2-4 NLT). David knew where to look. When a child is in trouble, where do his eyes go first? To his mom or dad. When he is fearful, where does he turn his attention? To the ones who have proven themselves trustworthy and helpful in the past. That is what David had learned about God. He knew that God was trustworthy and faithful. He had proven Himself so time and time again.
We have a lot of things distracting our attention away from God these days. Sometimes we are like small children whose attention is easily distracted by the toys and trinkets of life. We stop listening to God. We stop paying attention to Him. And we stop turning our eyes to Him. Satan knows how to distract us. He turn to the TV for comfort and a false sense of happiness. We turn to the news for an accurate depiction of what is going on in the world, instead of God's Word. We turn to the "experts" of this age to gain insight into everything from money and marriage to health and fitness. To look to God is a sign of our dependence upon God. We look to Him because we know we need Him. We look to Him because we know He will provide – and He is the only one who can. So where are you looking today?
Father, teach me to look to You. Help me keep my eyes focused on You and You alone. Don't allow me to be distracted by the things of this world. They never deliver. They can't. But You can and always do. Amen