Post 25 in Lifting up the Soul
My eyes are ever toward the Lord,
for he will pluck my feet out of the net.
– Psalm 25:15
When David confronted Goliath, he said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.” David saw what none of the army of Israel, including its king, had faith to see. God was standing in that battle, and He had already decided the outcome. David knew the way to walk, not because he studied books or asked others. He looked to God for his path and God showed it to him. God taught him the hard way, as well. David turned his eyes away from God when he looked on Bathsheba. David lost his focus, and that caused him and his family a world of trouble.
Jesus said, “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness” (Luke 11:34). You can’t have two opposing goals: what you want and what God wants. When we lift up our souls to God, our eyes are focused on Him naturally. To continue to lift up the soul, one draws her eyes away from the distractions and sees God first. This is the same concept Jesus expresses when He tells the people, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). It’s not that the troubles of this world don’t matter; rather, looking at the troubles with God in the forefront is going to change your behavior and your future.
God is not asking for something He doesn’t give to us. He asks for our eyes on Him, just as His eyes are on us. Zechariah 9:1b states, “For the Lord has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel.” He has his eye fixed on mankind, both for good and bad. What we do is done in the sight of God. When we avert our eyes from Him, we look away from life itself. He is our life and our breath and our health. Without Him we have no ability to truly live, truly breath, or truly thrive. This is the purpose of lifting up the soul. There is nothing more necessary to our whole existence than our Creator.
What happens when we look away from God is clearly depicted in Genesis 4:5, when Cain’s “countenance fell.” His face fell. This is, again, the paniym. We think of this as an expression—drooping mouth, a frown, etc., but the falling face is the direction in which the face is going. It depicts an attitude. It’s not focusing on God. Cain was looking on God’s acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice. Had Abel’s sacrifice not been accepted either, Cain would not have killed Abel. But Cain was angry with Abel. Cain focused his wrath on his brother because he was not keeping his eyes on God.
We have a terrible time with comparisons, especially among our siblings. We have a name for it, sibling rivalry. Instead of looking to God and minding our own business, we start caring about whether we have the same things someone else has. We start worrying about what others think and what God has given them. Sometimes we need to put on the blinders and say, “This relationship is between God and me. Their relationship is between God and them.”
The Bible tells us the story of the lost son who wastes his inheritance and returns penitent. His brother had a case of “countenance falling,” too. He didn’t want his brother to receive the fatted calf unless he had one, too. Jesus discusses this rivalry again with the story of the fieldworkers who are hired for the whole day and become angry with the owner when he pays the same wages to the ones who work for only an hour. The owner reminds them that they were perfectly willing and agreed to work for the amount they were given. Nothing had been taken from them. But they looked away from the agreement. They lost focus and went away from a good day’s pay displeased and feeling cheated.
This is Satan’s way of entrapping us into displeasure, unhappiness, wrath, and sin. Don’t let Satan catch your eye with the things that don’t apply to you, whether it be the temptation of sinful living or the temptation of resenting the blessings of your spiritual siblings.
Sister, you are blessed. Your soul is alive and well in the care of your Heavenly Father. He is taking care of you in the things that you need. What others around you are doing, or the blessing that isn’t yours, doesn’t matter. Don’t let the goings on around you cause your countenance to fall, giving Satan a foothold. Look up into God’s face and know that He is not trying to hurt your feelings or give you a hard time. He is teaching you to keep your eyes on Him so that He can place you in situations that will help others and draw you closer to Him.
Here are some passages that teach us to look to God and what He wants us to focus on.
My son, do not lose sight of these— keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. Proverbs 3:21-23
And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Luke 16:15
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” John 21:20-22
This is the twenty-fifth post in the Lifting Up the Soul study from Psalm 25. Subscribe to WomEnCourage to be notified as this study continues.