The Lord Looks Down From Heaven



My dad passed away earlier this year. I think about him from time to time and reflect on my life and how he and my mom raised me. When I got older, our family was spread across the US. My dad enjoyed Thanksgiving, a time when the family got together. He especially liked seeing how everyone enjoyed each other’s presence.

The Eskimo Nebula
Somewhere in the Heavens

 

My family is likewise scattered about, and Thanksgiving is one of the few times we can all get together. This year my family and most of my brother’s family spent the day together. I thought to myself, “Dad would enjoy being here. Perhaps he is watching, and enjoying, what is going on right now.”

 

Today’s reading is Psalm 33:13-22. The Psalmist tells us that, “The Lord looks down from heaven on all of mankind.” Man, no matter his standing in society, can do nothing by himself. God takes care of those “whose hope is in his unfailing love.”

 

Is my dad really looking down from heaven on my family and I? Theologians have debated for years whether or not this is possible. Our capabilities in heaven after our death and before Jesus’ second coming is vague and provides debate fodder for those whose calling is to study such things.

 

It really doesn’t matter. The thought might provide some comfort for me, but I do have someone more important than my dad looking down from heaven, and that is the Lord!

 

What a blessing it is to know that I do not have to “go it alone” in this world. What a blessing to know that God is right there with me along the way. What a blessing to know that he “has my back.”

 

God sees to it that my basic needs are met. I may at times have troubles, but He guides me through the mine fields of life.

 

Most importantly, he provides a cosmic shield around my soul so that my number one enemy, Satan, cannot harm me.

 

Most certainly, God looks down from heaven and “Delivers me from death!”

 

What a blessing indeed!