Psalm 144:3-4 (ESV)
3 O Lord, what is man that you regard him,
or the son of man that you think of him?
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.
The question asked in the psalm above is one that is not often enough asked by people of today. What is man? What makes us special? Why would God ever pay attention to us?
The next line of the psalm does not tell us why God would pay attention to us, but it does give us something to think about to help us to rightly put ourselves in place when we consider our Lord. In verse 4, the psalmist refers to the shortness of human lives. We come and go. Our lives pass in what appears to be only a moment. Whether you live for 10 years or 100 years, what is that when compared to the thousands of years of human history? Even more, what is that when compared to eternity?
It would do us good, even today, to consider the brevity of human life. We often live as though we will stay here and do what we are presently doing forever. But that is a false way to live. God did not create us to live forever in a sin-darkened, fallen world. God has something much greater for us than this. And our lives will pass. They will pass quickly, before we know it.
How should these thoughts make us respond today? We should look at the brevity of our lives and we should be amazed that God would pay attention to us (just like the psalmist in verse 3). We should see that, compared to God, we are insignificant. We are as nothing when compared to his might, his holiness, and his eternality. We are creatures, he is Creator. We are finite, he is infinite.
May these thoughts challenge us to worship our Lord. He is great. His greatness reminds us of our weakness. We need him. We exist for him. May we honor him with the lives that he gives us to live on this earth.
Pastor Travis Peterson 