"Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." Psalm 50:10
Just what does it mean that God owns the cattle upon a thousand hills? When hearing that verse, I imagine most of our thoughts turn towards the obvious, God owns everything. That’s what the verse says, right? But what does it mean? What is its significance? Does such ownership have any profound impact on my life? Does such ownership change my view of others or help me deal with the news of the day? It should. This straightforward truth should impact us deeply, personally and daily. For in this truth God is expressing that He alone is God. There is none above Him. There is none like Him. There is none before Him and there will be none after Him. He stands apart, utterly unique from all His creation. This verse does not stand alone, though, in the surrounding verses we find the point, the reasons this truth should impact us on a very deep, personal level. In the surrounding verses we find a threefold exhortation. First, God alone is God and He is a personal God. He is the God of all things. He is specially the God of His people. These truths work together in a marvelous harmony that gives great comfort to believers. Many people have had and still have gods that are their own personal gods. It was not an uncommon thing to suggest a particular tribe or nation was favored by a particular god. The uncommon thing was to suggest there was a great, all powerful, supremely sovereign God who had everything under His authority. Yet, that is exactly who God is and what He communicated to Israel. He is the supreme God of all who has chosen out His people for Himself, for a special purpose and a unique relationship. The second exhortation is, give thanks to Him. Don’t take His work, His provision, His care or His rule for granted. Give thanks to Him. The last exhortation is to call on Him in times of trouble. He is the only one sufficient to meet our needs and solve our problems. The math is simple. If God owns all the cattle and if God own all the beasts of the earth and if God is the supreme possessor of all things, then He has enough to meet our needs, whatever they might be. When we live in the great truth expressed here, then we will bring Him glory. We will lift Him up in our lives to the station that He deserves and we will increase His apparent value in the world around us.
Nikon D80 55mm 1/250 sec. f/8 ISO-100
Chambers Creations 