For the Lowly

“Though Yahweh is high, yet he sees the lowly, but the proud he perceives at a distance.” Psalm 138:6

As the Missouri River wound its way across Montana into the hills and razorbacks of northwest North Dakota in the 1860s, it brought steamers carrying passengers and freight across the plains toward the more populated east. There was a post at Like-a-Fishhook Village on the Fort Berthold Reservation. From atop the second story of the young missionary’s chapel, the towers of the stockade or atop the Native’s larger earth lodges, one could see about six miles upriver. Once a steamer was spotted, people knew they had 20 minutes to prepare to meet the ship to board it or load cargo.

In those days that was a great moment. With very little communication except for infrequent letters and telegraph messages, the chance to hear what was going on “out there” when the steamboats arrived was well anticipated.

They saw the ship, and seeing it, knew it would arrive. If they could see 20 miles upriver, perhaps they could have an hour to prepare. Or assume they could spot it 200 miles out; waiting would be a leisurely week and perhaps they would prepare a feast to share with pilots and passengers.

Sometimes we feel like God is distant. He is the creator of a vast universe where it takes six to eight months, with our current technology, to fly to our closest planet Mars. At the speed of light it takes 20 years for the closest star’s image to reach us. Our own galaxy is only one of countless others separated by vast amounts of nothing. An image of the immensity of creation certain inspires awe about the Majesty of the One who created it all.

That same image, though, may also cause us to think of Him as distant. As “King” of the universe, he must reside on a throne far above and outside his own creation. And, just like earthly sovereigns, even if we made the trek to where He resides, we might have little luck in actually gaining an audience with Him.

That is where the words from this Psalm give us hope. Calling Him by His covenant name, “Yahweh”, the Psalmist insists the Lord is high. He is above all. He is enthroned. He is King over all and reigns over all. Yet…

“Yet”; I believe that has become one of my favorite words in Scripture. If this passage read, “Yahweh is high, therefore…”, it might go on to read, “so fear Him”, or “He is beyond mere mortals’ reach”, or “So don’t even try to reach out to Him, your arms are way too short.” But, there is no “therefore”, only a “yet”.

“The Lord is high…however…” He sees the lowly! Not just “sees” as in “notices”, but is taken in by them, focuses on them, gazes upon them with compassionate care. This one verse doesn’t say all those things, but when we add all the Scriptures say about God’s care for the poor, we can easily fill that gaze of God with richness and mercy.

It does no good to try to classify who the “lowly” are. To do so would only reveal our own prejudices as we discounted certain folks and included others. Perhaps this is the truth: if you feel like you are one of the lowly, you qualify. You may be rich in earthly goods, but poor in rich relationships. God sees that. You may be highly popular, but your family is a lowly mess. God sees that. You may truly be among the poverty stricken, the sick, the disenfranchised, and the bullied. God sees you. You may have been discriminated against, misunderstood, told to learn “our” language, whispered about, made to feel dirty, or simply ignored by those with power. God sees you.

He also sees someone else; from a distance He sees the proud. The proud occupy as many levels of life as do the lowly. When conservatives snub their noses at homosexuals, implying they sin more deeply, calling them abominations and refusing to treat them as fellow human beings; they are among the proud. But, by the same token, when liberals call a conservative a homophobe, who is deeply struggling to find his way concerning homosexuality, what the Scriptures may say about it, trying to stay true to God and true to the compassion of Christ, they also have become among the proud.

There are followers of Christ who have decided, after long and agonizing study, that the Scriptures do not forbid, nor even address committed relationships between people of the same sex. That does not make them heretics (though some may be!) There are also others, just as true to Christ, and just as loving, who just have not been able to get there yet. Their faith is bound up in Scripture, and, until they find a way to interpret Scripture differently, they feel compelled to see the issue another way. That does not make them homophobes (though some may be!)

It is important to remember that the “lowly” are everywhere; gay, straight, poor, rich, third world, developed nations, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, male, female. We don’t get to decide which of the lowly God “sees”. We must not forget that it is no more than a century and a half ago that Native Americans in our country were considered something more than monkeys and less than men. Some missionaries thought they were unredeemable for that reason. (Thank God they were in the minority!)

Just like the hope that rose in the Ft. Berthold people when they saw the steamer arriving six miles up, may we thrill at a God who sees the lowly. And, may we be sure that we are not among the proud who God gives only a glancing look from afar. And, if I have written of sensitive subjects that caused anyone discomfort, for that I apologize. I apologize if anything in my methods, phraseology or characterizations offended; not for the subject matter itself, though.

Father, let my eyes also see the lowly and be moved even as Your heart is moved.