Look Up, Not Down!

Tom Barnard 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—where does my help come from?

My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

(Psalm 121:1, 2) 

“I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down

upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive

how he could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.”

Abraham Lincoln

“The hills are alive with the sound of music,

With songs they have sung for a thousand years.

The hills fill my heart with the sound of music,

My heart wants to sing every song it hears.”

Oscar Hammerstein II 

C.S. Lewis once said, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you.” And what are some of the things that are “above” you? Oh, plenty. Tree tops, hills, mountains, clouds, sky. And God, of course. There is an old saying (I could not find the source), that reads something like this: 

If within you there is nothing above you,

You will eventually surrender to everything that is around you.” 

That’s true, isn’t it? We all know people who have surrendered to things and habits that exist at a lower level than where they really want to live. But we also know people who have surrendered to a higher calling, to a higher purpose, to a higher way of living—the way that Jesus talked about when he walked on earth. They are people who have invested in more noble causes than others. They are people who have discovered the Source of Help. They have discovered that—like the psalmist—their help “comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Lord, I want to be like them! 

Father God, Maker of heaven and earth, Creator of mountains and valleys, Designer of streams and lakes and oceans, Composer of the greatest music ever written, Poet who inspired hymn writers of past and current generations, Singer of the Psalms, Spirit of all true believers, Savior of the World—I can’t begin to praise you enough for what you have done to lift my sights above the things that are going on around me. Plant within my heart a passion to know you fully, to obey you completely, and to strive to be like you in everything I do. Amen.