Psalm 2009

What man can know God's thoughts, much less His heart?
Can any foretell the wonders in store,
Conceived by Him e'en before time's start?
Take the noblest words penned in human lore;
Combine the skills of Milton and Shakespeare;
Write rhyme greater than the world has e'er seen;
As a fleeting day to an endless year,
Man's best songs fall short of divine demesne*!
His ways are unlike those practiced by flesh;
His mind's a mystery to mortal's mind;
For who else discerns the good in distress,
Or His perfect will in disaster find?
Fret not of reasons whatever betide**;
His hidden plan in good or bad reside!

*demesne = where God rules; **betide = happens

The Book of Psalms are ancient lyrics to Jewish hymns, praises to God. This poem tries to describe the great gulf between mortals and holy God. The Bible repeatedly emphasizes the immensity of God compared to the infinite smallness of man. Most sins are based on human pride; the sinner refusing to accept that a superior being can know, remember, and ultimately demand him to be accountable.

Even Jesus' apostles were constantly vying among themselves to be awarded the highest place in the Kingdom of God, next to Him, of course. The mother of James and John, sons of Zebedee, catching Jesus away from the others, asked Him if her sons could sit on thrones, one on His right, and one on His left, when He ruled. He tactfully answered her that that reward was not his to give; it belonged to the Father. Of course, Jesus and the Father are one. Later He told the disciples again that whoever is least on earth will be greatest in heaven.

"Then he said to them, 'Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all---he is the greatest.'" (Luke 9:48)

Humility is the trait that is the hardest to develop for a human being. It also must be pervasive; that is, in every activity of life. Donald Trump's TV show, Celebrity Apprentice, highlights the candidate most skilled in outwitting and triumphing over the others by any means; that type of aggressiveness is precisely what God deplores in His believers. We must show our humble nature even in the competitive world of careers. This example is indicative of why mortals will never understand God.