1000 Hills
I just travelled through the hill-country of South Gippsland in Victoria. You cannot be unimpressed with the grandeur of the rolling landscape. And you cannot miss seeing all the cows. They literally dot the hills. Cattle beyond number on countless hills.
As I made my way on these winding roads I was reminded of Asaph's words in Psalm 50:10 "The cattle on a 1000 hills are mine." These are God's words, and he reminds us that He is not like the gods of the pagans who seemed to thrive on animal sacrifices. Everything already belongs to Him, including the cattle on a 1000 hills. In Bible times God's people sacrificed animals as part of their worship of God. But in Psalm 50 the point is made that these sacrifices were not done because Almighty God needed the animals but because the people desperately needed Him.
The Lord does not depend on our worship for survival. He is "the Mighty One, God, the LORD." (Ps. 50:1) Our worship, our prayers, our sacrifices of time, and our giving of tithes and offerings do not enhance God's well-being. These do not enrich our God and Creator. "The world is [His] and everything in it." (Ps. 50:12) Including you and me. Our churches. And our ministries. Our world belongs to God!
The reason why we worship, and pray, and give sacrificially of all that God has given to us is a way for believers to rightly acknowledge how desperately we need God. So we gather for worship, we pray continually (1 Thess. 5:17), and we make prayer our number one task because we realize how much we depend upon God for everything. For all the stuff of life. For our churches and ministries. And especially the salvation of the lost! So we heed the prompting of Psalm 50:15: "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honour me."
Yes we are enriched when we pray! That's the flipside of the cattle on a 1000 hills belonging to God! Since our world belongs to God, and everything in it, God is more than able to supply all of our needs. As Paul reminds us: "God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." (2 Cor. 9:8) Or as he writes to the Ephesians: "[God] is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...." (Eph 3:20) Why is God able to do more than we ask for in prayer? More than we imagine? Because everything belongs to God.
So as you bend your knee and pray to God, remember Who it is that you are praying to! He is the Mighty One -- the One to whom everything belongs. You desperately need His help to supply all of your needs and to accomplish all of your plans. And this same God is more than able and capable of supplying all of your needs, for His supply is unending. He has everything to give for everything is His! Including the cattle on a 1000 hills.
About the author
Jack De Vries was hired on by the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and began his work as Ministry Training Coordinator in January 2008. In 2012 this role shifted to that of Ministry Development Coach.
Jack came from Canada where he pastored three Christian Reformed churches: Alliston CRC, Alliston, Ontario(1983-87), a church plant: New Life Community Church, Pickering, Ontario(1987-95), and Bethel CRC, Listowel, Ontario (1995-2007). Jack is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity - 1983) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry - 2003) Jack and his wife Jeannie currently live in Petrie, a northern suburb of Brisbane in Queensland. They attend and are members of Bray Park Community Church. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren living in the USA and Canada.
In Isaiah 58:11 we read: "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Australia has seen times of drought and floods. There is another type of drought in Australia; there is a spiritual drought. But God promises to provide refreshing rain, a never ending supply of refreshing water. The water he provides will satisfy the needs of all Australians. As we take up the missional vision God has given us we extend the life changing invitation of Jesus: "Come! Whoever is thirsty, come, and take the free gift of the water of life!" (Revelation 22:17)
