God Owns the Mountains

“In God’s hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm95:4-5

Greetings once again from the Appalachian Mountains in eastern Kentucky! Our annual family trip is both welcomed and needed while our hearts still think about our friends back at home. To gaze upon grand mountains, to see the carving power of a creek after a storm, and even explore a cave, it is easy to think deeply about just how small we are.

Consider looking up at such a mountain and just how many thousands of trees and perhaps millions of leaves there are. From a distance, the scenery is a paint stroke of green. No attention is given to a leaf slightly greener or a tree just a bit taller than the rest.

Now consider Who put each tree and leaf and rock together to form that mountain. This Psalm is about gathering God’s worshipers to sing praises to God while also remembering the failures of generations past, particularly their grumbling in the wilderness (verse 8). It is good to remember our weaknesses before God, and consider He is Creator and mighty King over all His earth and His people.

God owns that mountain. It is in His hand! Contrast this with the Psalmist’s thought that the deepest depths, the caves and caverns, are also in His hands. God’s dominion comprises all from mountain heights to lowest depths of the earth. For our eyes which God created for His glory to gaze upon His mountains, we are struck with awe and invited to worship Him. Not in mere heartless ritual, but to sing loudly to the God who makes beautiful things.

And in a vast paint stroke of this tiny rock we label “earth”, God looks down and He knows me and my story (Psalm 139:1-4). I, like the many trees on a mountain, have nothing to boast to gain the attention of my God, and yet, He knows me and He loves me. What a stirring thought that leaps from my heart to my mouth, both of which He formed, to sing His praises.

God truly is great. Standing here, looking up at these mountain heights, I stand in wonder that the God who made these mighty mountains is my help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). Greater than this mountain, God is immovable, unchanging, mightier, and more breath-taking in majesty. The God who is mightier than this mountain I am looking at promises to be with me forever.

It is in this humbling yet peaceful place before God my anxieties seem silly and lose their power over my heart. Troubles, very real troubles, are in the hand of my God who holds the depths of the earth and the towering mountains in the same hand. I am in His hand. No one and nothing can pluck me from His mighty hand (John 10:28-30).

Friend, trust in God. Yesterday’s failures, today’s troubles, and tomorrow’s uncertainties seem anxious in our feeble hands. Trust in the mighty hands who holds the mountains. He holds you tenderly as His child. Now, rejoice in the God who shows such mercies to us! That the power of the wrath of the Mountain-Holder was placed on Christ at the cross, and by grace the power and promise of the hand of the Burden-Lifter now extends to us.

Heavenly Father, create in us a deep longing for You far above the unsatisfying and temporary pleasures of this world. Give us restless hearts that we may find satisfaction in You. Give us pauses in our days to consider the beauty of Your creation, the power of Your hand, and rejoice in the truth that our God is rich in mercy and knows us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.