Look up!

(J.R. Miller,  “Unto the Hills!” A Meditation on Psalm 121)

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“I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2 

It is good always to look up. Thousands of people dwarf their lives, and hinder the possibilities of growth in their souls–by looking downward. They keep their eyes ever entangled in mere earthly sights, and miss the glories of the hills that pierce the clouds, and of the heavens that bend over them!

A story is told of a boy who one day found a gold coin on the street. Ever after this–he kept his eyes on the ground as he walked, watching for coins. During a long lifetime, he found a good number of coins–but meanwhile he never saw the flowers and the trees which grew in such wondrous beauty everywhere; he never saw the hills, the mountains, the sweet valleys, the picturesque landscapes; he never saw the blue sky. To him, this lovely world meant only a dusty road, dreary and unbeautiful, merely a place in which to look for coins.

This really is the story of the life of most people. They never lift their eyes off the earth! They live only to gather money, to add field to field, to scheme for power or to find pleasure. Or, if their quest is a little higher, it is still only for earthly things. They never lift up their eyes to God! There is no blue sky in their picture. They cherish no heavenly visions. They are without God in the world.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2

Abba,

How easy it is for us to lose sight of your glorious person in the midst of our temporal life.  It is so easy to only see our pain, disappointment, anger, sorrow, loss, failure, and hardships.  For that matter, it is easy to only see our abundance, blessing, easy, prosperity, and success.  And in either extreme, it is so very easy to lose sight of your glorious person because we are looking only at that which is close at hand.

In my mind, I see my freshman year of college.  I see myself standing, next to my wife (then she was just a new acquaintance).  The night was full on, the sun had long descended.  Lights from the surrounding campus and communities show all around us.  I remember pinpointing one light off in the distance.  Bright and clear.  I remember wondering what the light was too.  Then I remember being distracted by the lights closest to me on the ground, the sidewalk lamps that lit the way for students and staff to get around the campus at night.  And I remember as clear as day the illustration you brought to mind.  The attraction, attention, and immediacy of the near, the imminent can steal our attention of the eternal that stands off someplace in the future inviting us to focus on it.  We can lose sight of the glorious eternal future by focusing instead on that which is near and immediate. 

In truth, we do need an eye on the near and immediate but in such a way that we never lose sight of the eternal.  We need to learn to see the near and immediate in light of the eternal and to keep that which is now in proper perspective of how it stands in light of the distant eternity, however near or far we are from entering that eternal state.

We must remember OFTEN to LOOK UP! In both times of trial and abundance, we need to LOOK UP and see You, to see Your eternal plan and allow that distant view to shape our near and immediate view. We must never lose sight of the eternal light in the dazzle and brightness of that which is near and temporary. Teach us, train us to ALWAYS LOOK UP and be entranced by your beauty and glory and may our view of the hear and now be shaped by that vision!

Psalm 121:title–122:title (ESV): My Help Comes from the Lord

121 A Song of Ascents.

 1  I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

 2  My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

 3  He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

 4  Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

 5  The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

 6  The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

 7  The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

 8  The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

Let Us Go to the House of the Lord