One of my favorite refrains from a hymnal is “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace (Lemmel, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, 1922). For I have found that what the world deems important or significant is only a distraction to the fact that God is in full control, and that it is only by the grace of God that we are ultimately saved from the death and destruction of the sin that is promoted by this world as good and right. Additionally, even in times of difficulty, the Almighty is in full control, and He is the God of all Comfort “who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:4, NASB). So, let us put aside our pride in thinking that human wisdom and reasonings will save and comfort us, and let us recognize the greatness of God and praise His name (see Romans 1:21-24).
“Behold, the Lord God will come with might, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His compensation is with Him, And His reward before Him. Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in the fold of His robe; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And measured the heavens with a span, And calculated the dust of the earth with a measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales? Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or as His counselor has informed Him? With whom did He consult And who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, And informed Him of the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its animals enough for a burnt offering. All the nations are as nothing before Him,
They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, A goldsmith plates it with gold, And a silversmith fashions chains of silver. He who is too impoverished for such an offering Selects a tree that does not rot; He seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman To prepare an idol that will not totter.
Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to live in. It is He who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you compare Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Raise your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who brings out their multitude by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.
Why do you say, Jacob, and you assert, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives strength to the weary, And to the one who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary” (Isaiah 40:10-31, NASB).