Today's Reading: Psalm 102

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

In Psalm 102, David is writing as one afflicted and cast down. Life, once again, has become tough – perhaps even unbearable. He calls his trial a “day of distress” and describes his heart as being “struck down like grass.” He is lonely. His enemies taunt him. He is groaning loudly at life’s difficulties. He has his eyes on himself and his troubles and it has brought him sadness.

Halfway through this Psalm, David turns his eyes off of himself and looks upward toward God and His throne in Heaven. At this point, his whole demeanor changes from one who is cast down to one who is in awe at the greatness and majesty of his God. He begins to remember that God is on His throne and He will act when the time is right. He reminds himself that God has a plan and a purpose for this world and one day He will “build up Zion and appear in His glory.” As his eyes turn upward, David’s heart is filled with thoughts of our eternal and unchangeable God. What a difference our perspective makes! If you are in distress today, stop looking at your trial and look up instead. Like David, when you look upward, your heart will turn from sadness to awe.

David goes on to reflect on the fact that God created the heavens and the earth – and He did it without any difficulty. With the mighty power of His word, our physical universe came into existence. “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of Your hands.” In verse 26, David compares the difficulty factor of God creating the universe to changing a robe. How difficult is it for you to change robes? It is one of the simplest and unchallenging tasks we can thing of. Well, that’s how difficult it was for God to bring our physical universe into existence! And one day, He will “change robes” and bring a whole new world into existence. Our universe is not eternal, but our Lord is! The world will pass away like a robe being changed, but “You are the same and Your years have no end.”

Our God is eternal and unchangeable. He is unlike anything or anyone we could ever know or imagine. He is one of a kind, unique and without comparison. Even describing Him with mere words truly falls short of capturing who He is – our words simply cannot do justice to describe an indescribable Being.

Our Lord is self-existing, without origin, and eternal. He has always been and will always be. And God does not change. In fact, He is not capable of change. Who He is - never changes. His attributes are the same from before the beginning of time into eternity. His character never changes – He never gets “better” or “worse.” His plans do not change. His promises do not change.

So, dear follower of Christ, “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.” Do you see Him? Keep looking upward until you, like David, see the greatness and majesty of God.