Rocky Road Devotions: Of God, Humankind, and Ants

Friday, January 8, 202 1

Honor the Lord, you heavenly beings; honor the Lord for his glory and strength. Honor the Lord for the glory of his name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning. The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!” The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever. The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace. Psalm 29:1-11

I’m a good bit larger than an ant. And that’s not just because of pounds gained over the holidays, or coronavirus boredom eating; it’s just the nature of humans and ants. That is also the kind of relationship between humankind and God; we are a lot smaller than the I AM.

It’s easy enough for a human to crush an ant without much effort. After all, at my post-holiday length, girth, and mass, it would take around 45,000 ants to equal the space I take up on this planet. Still, if given a choice, I do not squash ants; they are God’s creatures, and you don’t mess with that. Unless they sting you! Or infest your picnic. Or start gnawing the beams that hold your house up. Then you call the exterminator. As part of humanity my benevolence towards ants does have a limit.

There is also a correlation in this with our relationship to our Creator. He doesn’t smash us like unwanted bugs; His benevolence and patience extend to humankind on a much deeper level than ours does toward ants (and each other).

Aside from the fact that God’s understanding of us is much greater than our understanding of anything, God also has limitless capacity for grace and mercy. It is a good thing that is true, because we wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving otherwise.

And that is where my astonishment about we humans leaps to the foreground. I am amazed at how lightly humankind presumes upon God’s grace and mercy by treading on His holiness. It is almost like an ant invading the picnic and staring the human in the face and saying, I’m taking that slice of gooey German chocolate cake, buddy…and what’re YOU gonna do about it? I can tell you, an ant with an attitude like that would be a stain on the checkered tablecloth in a heartbeat.

The Psalmist tells us our attitude towards God should be that of honor and worship. That is a far cry from the reality of today’s world. There are so many who deny even the existence of God, let alone His preeminence. Many acknowledge God’s existence, but their lack of honor and worship disdains His rightful place in our lives. For too many humans, worship is reduced to a ritualistic nod of acquiescence to custom, or simply doing what one must to cover the bases just in case God might notice their naughtiness and take away their toys. We humans can be arrogant and petulant enough to make nursery school children look like Harvard scholars. We seem to be as thankless to our Creator as ants raiding the picnic.

Unfortunately, it has always been thus. The first thing Adam did upon hearing there was nothing forbidden him, except that one tree in the middle of the garden, was to hunt up a ladder to pick the highest cherry on the limb. Our first parents literally ate themselves right out of house and home. There is nothing like forbidden fruit to ensure we humans will make another stupid choice.

To the point for today’s Psalm…this poetic reminder of God’s majesty, holiness, and power, and the call to worship Him with all reverence and fidelity, is no suggestion; it is the sound of the ram’s horn, an alert that we stop being petulant ants at God’s picnic, and line up to serve the King of Kings.

For You Today

Here’s a good question at the start of another year:

What will you do differently this year to keep your worship of God genuine, fresh, and holy? He is that important, you know.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!