And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Heb 4:13 ESV

Gulp! At first reading this verse elicits a cringe response in me. It immediately follows an oft’ memorized one about the  living and active  Word of God, but is NOT often read or memorized along with that more well-known one.  Why is that?  Am I right to cringe?

Though it is true that “God carefully watches the way people live; he sees everything they do.” (Job 34:21), for those who are in Christ Jesus there is no condemnation coming (Rom.8:1).  Our sins have been covered.  All God’s watching is for my good, to steer me from the sin that destroys and to call me to Himself. This I have been reminded of this morning.

David got this.

O God, you know how fooish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you…But I keep right on praying to you, LORD…In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation. Ps.69:5,13

Hagar also, having been sent off alone into the wilderness, presumably to die, found relief in God’s watchcare.

The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. … Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.”  Gen 16:7, 13 NLT

Do I view God primarily as harsh Judge or merciful Redeemer?  This will depend on whether I have run to Him for rescue or hidden from Him, when overtaken in sin.

In the course of a day, do I think I am ‘grown up’ enough to take care of myself and mature enough to give God a break?  Do I think I can get on quite nicely without His superintending? Or have I learned to count on His nearness and watchfulness?

My two verses in focus this week as I inch my way through Psalm 116 are these:

“What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD.”

This would hardly be a way of thanking my neighbor for all their help–here I am again, can you help me with one more thing–but in fact this is exactly the response that honors God!  It brings Him glory when we as His best-loved creatures look to Him in faith all the live-long day, when we count on and cherish His watchful eye.

He has designed me to need Him, always.  To come to Him for everything.  To turn to Him at all times.  This may be seen as undesirable weakness by the self-help crowd, but it is precious in God’s sight.  He delights to have His children looking to Him with eager expectation and trust.  This creature-Creator relationship is to His great glory and ours as well.

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. II Chron. 16:9 ESV

Then the LORD asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless–a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” Job 1:8 NLT

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. Heb 10:35-39 ESV

–LS