O Lord, what is man that You think of him?
“O LORD, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow.” (Psalms 144:3-4)
Last Friday, in commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the founding of Victory Presbyterian Church, which I am serving, there was a revival meeting. God gave a message about “the grace of salvation” centered on Ephesians 1:3-14 through a guest speaker. After receiving the word, I remembered the word of Psalms 8:4 which I had previously meditated on while praying to God, thinking of the saving grace of the Holy Triune God: “What is man that You take thought of him ….” And I confessed to God: ‘God, what is man that You love him this much? God, who am I that You gave me the grace of salvation?’ Then, after proclaiming Psalms 144, which I meditated on last night, at this morning prayer meeting, I am meditating on verses 3-4 again today. Especially, I want to focus on verse 3b – “…the son of man that you think of him?”
In my opinion, no matter how much couple loves each other, I don't think they think about each other countless times in a day. I am not sure though. I wonder if they think about each other more than a thousand times a day. Even the couple who think about each other so many time a day, for sure they cannot think all day long. How can they think about each other when they sleep at night? For sure it is limited to think about each other when the couple love each other even if the other spouse appears in a dream. But God's thinking for us is not limited. The reason is because God who loves us and who thinks about us doesn’t sleep (121:4). Also, because God is an eternal God (Isa. 40:28), His thoughts toward us are eternal.
This is what Psalms 139:17-18 say about God’s thoughts for us: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand When I awake, I am still with You.” The Bible tells us that the precious thoughts of the Lord, who loves us, to us outnumbers the sand. How can we count the sand? We will not even try to count the sand at all because they are so many. We can’t even try to count the sand because human ability cannot count the number of sand. The Bible says that God's precious thoughts toward us are countless. However, what is even more surprising is that God has so many thoughts toward us who are “like a breath” and our days are “like a fleeting shadow” (144:4). As the sunlight fades, the shadows disappear and the breath disappears in an instant. Even though our days are “like grass”, why does the Lord think of us countless times? Isn't it because God love us? Our thoughts for God return to the dust when our spirit depart and in that very day our thoughts will perish (146:4). However, God's thoughts toward us, like breath and shadows, never cease to exist. The reason is because our God is eternal.
I don't understand the fact that this eternal God loves us who are like a single breath and shadow, and thinks of us countless times, so that He sent His eternal Son Jesus to this earth to die on the cross in order to save us. I don't understand why Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came in human body and died on the cross to save such sinner like me. Therefore, I have no choice but to pray to God like this: ‘O Lord, what is man that You care for me and think of me?’
“Alas! and did my Savior bleed, And did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head For such a worm as I?” (Hymn “Alas! And Did my Savior Bleed” verse 1),
James Kim
[“Was it for crimes that I have done, He suffered on the tree? Amazing pity! grace unknown! And love beyond degree!”(verse 2)]