What Is Man?

December 20

Zephaniah 1-2

Psalm 144:9-15

Proverbs 30:15-17

Revelation 13:1-10

What Is Man?

“Lord, what is man, that You care for him, the son of man, that You think of him?  Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.”  Psalm 144:3-4 HCSB

In this passage, David demonstrated awareness of man’s insignificance and unimportance compared to the majesty and power of God.  David marveled that God would care for us and that He would even give us a second thought.  David was not suffering from an inferiority complex or low self-esteem.  He recognized God for who He is and when he evaluated his own life and the life of man in general, he understood that we are nothing but a speck of dust.  Throughout the course of history billions of people have come and gone.  Each man is like a breath and his days like a passing shadow.  If a day is like a thousand years to God, then a life of 80 or 90 years is but a moment in time.  The human life is brief and fragile.  The image that comes to my mind is a tiny ant in comparison to a full-grown man.  If the man saw the ant, saved him and took care of him it would not be as amazing as what God does for man.   David didn’t make this statement with a woe is me attitude or in an attempt to throw himself a pity party.  David’s words were spoken in awe.  When he examined his life, he knew that he didn’t deserve God’s love and attention and yet he knew that God did love him and that He saw him, cared for him, listened to him and was personally involved in his life.  David was acknowledging the astounding reality that the Creator of the universe, the Lord of lords and King of kings loved and cared for him. 

We tend to think pretty highly of ourselves.  Satan is very effective in making us think we deserve the best and we inherently are worthy of esteem.  Our sinful nature makes us predisposed to selfishness and as children we have to be taught to share and to think about other people’s needs.  It is good to remind ourselves periodically of who God is and who we are in relation to Him.  We need to be put in our place occasionally so that we, like David, can experience awe at the reality of what God has done for us and the fact that He is mindful of us.  Our worth and value come from Him.  We are made in His image and any value we have is because of what He has imparted to us.  I am reminded of the lyrics to a hymn by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel. “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean.  How marvelous! How wonderful! and my song shall ever be.  How marvelous!  How wonderful!  is my Savior’s love for me.”¹⁵