God Cares
Robert H. Farish
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man that thou are mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visiteth him? For thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, and crownest him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet" (Ps. 8: 3 — 6).
July 20, 1969 found the majority of men engaged in considering the heavens, particularly the moon, as was David three thousand years ago. How many of that number were considering the heavens, particularly the moon with the attitude and thoughts of the Psalmist? As we considered the moon, the news media's supplied us with interesting and awe inspiring facts which added to the thrill of observing a man step for the first time onto the moon. As we considered the moon, we were perhaps thinking of the 240,000 miles of space between the moon upon which Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin were walking and the earth upon which we stood. If we had extended the area under consideration to include the stars as did David, we might have realized that the light from a "small" star in the big dipper "left" the star thirty or forty years before those men on the moon were born and that light travelled 186,000 miles per second! The "speed" of light is nearly instantaneous", yet a long human life, five years longer than the three score and ten, is spent in the interval of time for light to arrive from this star to earth. "Them that fear God", exclaim with the Psalmist, "What is man that thou art mindful of him?" All the superlatives of the earth, ancient and modern, are inadequate to express the magnitude and significance of the fact of God's mindfulness of man. Words fail us, so let us just consider the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars, which (he) hast ordained, and allow our faith to swell into a tidal wave, sweeping fears and doubts away, leaving our souls humble and trusting in God, because the maker of all this is mindful of us.
The question of the Psalmist implies the concern of the creator for man. The fact that God, who made the heavens and ordained the moon and stars, is mindful of man is further set forth in the position and responsibilities which the creator appointed to man. Man was made a little lower than angels in order of being and was assigned dominion over the work of God's hands and crowned with glory and honor. The urgent need of man is to realize that God is mindful of man. God's mindfulness of man is the incentive for all the rich provisions of God's grace. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3: 16). The value and importance of the gift reflects the adequacy of the motive. How great is the love of God for his creature, man!
The faith that is "unto the saving of the soul", not only includes believing in the being of God, but also conviction that he is "the rewarder of them that seek him" (Heb. 11:6). The conviction that God is mindful of man enables the believer to act in harmony with the divine invitation, "Casting all your cares upon him for he careth for you" (I Pet. 5:7). The conviction that the Lord is available (at hand) and cares enables those in Christ to "rejoice in the Lord always" and to "be anxious in nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let their requests be made known unto God. The peace of God that passes all understanding will guard the hearts and thoughts of those who faithfully follow the divine formula for poise. Read Philippians four.
"Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield. Jehovah hath been mindful of us; he will bless us: He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear Jehovah, Both small and great. Jehovah increase you more and more, You and your children. Blessed are ye of Jehovah, who made heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of Jehovah; but the earth hath he given to the children of men." (Psalm 115: 11 — 16)
"Trust" in God properly goes with "fear" of God because God is the "help and shield" of them that fear him. He is mindful in a special way and will bless them that fear him.