Scripture: “I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.” – Psalm 50:11
Examination of Chapter: Written by Asaph, this psalm shows God as being a righteous judge, calling His people to worship Him sincerely with their hearts. Since everything created belongs to God, nothing can be offered that has more meaning than the genuine worship from the hearts of His people. It is not sacrifice of animals that God seeks; it is true faith and praise that glorifies and pleases Him.
Application: One of my favorite hobbies is birdwatching. I enjoy watching them at my feeder, and it gives me great joy to see so many different types of birds visiting each day. My regulars include a pair of cardinals, several dove, pairs of house finches, goldfinches, chickadees, nuthatches, and titmouses. Occasionally, a cowbird or redwinged blackbird will appear, but they do not stay for long periods of time.
On my latest road trip with my husband, I saw several other types of birds and kept a record of them in a bird book. We saw birds of prey (eagles, ospreys, and hawks), water birds (trumpeter swans, coots, and mallards), and more common birds such as magpies flying in the more populated areas of the national parks, and of course, sparrows hopping about in the parking lots.
Two types of birds I saw were very similar in appearance were the Brewer’s blackbird and the great-tailed grackle. I had to delve into my bird book to find the differences in order to correctly identify them. The differences were small, but once I knew what to look for, I could tell which bird was which. One other bird that seemed to be everywhere was the raven! These large ebony birds, that look like giant crows, were fearless and often approached people with a hilarious deep-throated. It was impossible for me to differentiate between each one as they seemed identical… solid black with no distinguishing features!! Scientists speculate that there are about 16 million of these huge black birds in the world! Imagine knowing each one of those ravens individually. Impossible for us, but God knows each one.
The Bible tells us in Luke 12:6 that God knows every sparrow. “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” Today, scientists say there are approximately 1.6 BILLION house sparrows in the world, and God knows EVERY ONE of them! Isn’t that just amazing? By the way, that number of sparrows doesn’t include other varieties of sparrows: chipping, song, etc.
But what is even more incredible is that the next verse, Luke 12:7, tells how much more special we are to God when Jesus says, “… ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Here’s what is really incredible. The latest census puts the population of the world at approximately 8.3 billion, and God knows each one of us individually. Jeremiah 1:5 affirms this, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee…”
Think about this. Scientists estimate there are approximately 85 BILLION birds on the earth. The Bible tells us that God takes care of all the birds… all 85 billion of them! The first part of Matthew 6:26 states, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them…” But that verse goes on to ask the question, “…Are ye not much better than they?” Certainly, gives one pause, doesn’t it?
God did not send His Son to die for any animal. He sent Jesus to die for His last creation… man. God formed us with His hands and then breathed into us His breath to create us with a living soul in order to have a relationship with us! Then after humanity sinned, severing that relationship, God sent His Son, Jesus, to bear the punishment we deserved on a cross to provide a way for us to be reconciled to Himself. He became the Saviour of the world as the disciple wrote in 1 John 4:14, “And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” We are indeed “much better” in God’s eyes than the birds or anything else He created.
All that the birds can do is sing to the Lord. While we can do mcuh more, let us begin by doing as the birds do. Psalm 95:1-3, 6 exhorts us, “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods… O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.” It is the least we can do, but it is the very act of our humble worship and praise that pleases and glorifies God the most.
Meditation:
- How does knowing the value of yourself in God’s eyes impact your relationship with Him?
- How does your worship of the Lord bring Him glory?