The Eyes of God

II Chronicles 16:9 The eyes of the LORD go around looking in all the earth

for people who are faithful to him so that he can make them strong.

A self-styled philosopher once said “If there is a God who created the universe, He has

either lost interest in it, or lost control over it”. Can this be true? Is this ancient globe

spinning out of control and is God watching helplessly? The Bible begs to differ! The

Lord is not indifferent to what goes on in the earth. He keeps track of things. The earth

is the work of His hands and He has always been interested in what happens there and

intervenes in human affair according to His holy will. There are at least three definite

reasons why God’s eyes are set upon His people:

·       to bless, protect and provide for His people

·       to constantly monitor His children’s every move

·       to remind them, to warn them if they tend to go astray

There are numerous examples in the Bible that establish the above truth:

1.    Psalm 14:2 “The LORD looks down from heaven to see if there is anyone who is wise,

anyone who looks to him for help”. It becomes apparent from this verse that God wants

mankind to look up to Him. He is there always for them.

2.    2 Chron 7:15, 16 “My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in

this place……my eyes and heart will always be there’’ – God promised on the occasion of

the dedication of the temple Solomon built for the Lord, and in answer to Solomon’s

prayer.

3.    Psalms 33:18, 19 The Psalmist says “The eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,

on those who hope for His lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep

them alive in famine”. God is watching over the people in order to help them in times of

need, whether famine or war or sickness or any other calamity.

4.    Psalm 33:13 ‘’When the LORD looks down from heaven, he observes every human

being”. No one escapes from His watchful eyes!

5.    1 Peter 3:12 advises one must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and

pursue it because ‘’ The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are

open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

6.    Psalms 32:8 ‘’I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you

counsel and watch over you’’. God offers to teach us the best way to go. Any other way

would lead to hardship.

7.    Isaiah 27:3 ‘’I, the LORD, will watch over it, watering it carefully. Day and night I will

watch so no one can harm it’’. God here compares His people to a vineyard and

promises to protect, care for it and render it fruitful.

The above verses and many others declare He never takes His eyes off you and watches

over you in numerous other ways. On the other hand it is important to remember that

God is not blind to your faults like disobedience, rebelliousness, idol worship etc. God

cannot ignore sin. Transgression must be punished. Habakkuk 1:13 makes this clear: ‘’

Your eyes are too good to look at evil. You cannot stand to see people doing wrong’’.

Look at 1 Peter 3:12 above (5) that says the Lord sets his face against those who do evil.

There is an increasing tendency these days to ‘cherry-pick’ the Bible - to pick up only the

blessings and ignore the warnings and curses. It is said there are about 7000 promises of

God in the Bible. It must be realized that most of these promises are attached to

conditions and many are contrasted with curses. God is not some benevolent grand

father, a celestial push-over who can be manipulated to get your work done. God’s eyes

are also watching over men to punish them for their transgressions. This is evident from

the following verses:

1. Psalm 11:4, 5 – ……..His eyes are watching closely; they examine the sons of men. The

LORD tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.

2. Psalms 1:6 - For the LORD guards the path of the righteous, but the way of the

wicked will perish.

3. Amos 7:7-9……. I saw the Lord standing beside a wall that had been built using a

plumb line. He was using a plumb line to see if it was still straight…

“I will test my people with this plumb line. I will no longer ignore all their sins. The

pagan shrines of your ancestors will be ruined, and the temples of Israel will be

destroyed”.

4. Jeremiah 16:17,18 For My eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from and

their guilt is not concealed from my eyes. And I will first repay them double their iniquity

and their sin…..

5. Heb. 4:13 – Nothing in creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is

uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Jesus

said ‘’I tell you that men will give an account on the of judgment for every careless word

they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).

There were occasions when men knew what was not right in God’s sight, nevertheless

went ahead and did it. Samuel warned Saul that what Saul was doing was ‘‘evil in the

sight of the Lord’’ but Saul ignored him and brought disaster upon him and his country.

When David wanted to enumerate the soldiers of his army and estimate his strength

through that, Joab warned him that it was not right in God’s sight, but David went ahead

anyway. For this he had to pay a terrible price.

As the Israelites were getting ready to enter the promised land Moses assured the

people saying “ … the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys

that drinks in the rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of

the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year’’. (Deut

11:11, 12).

He also extorted them to do what was right in the sight of God so that they would

continue to enjoy His protection and provision. He warned them “But be careful

that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods, the

anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. …..you will soon perish from the good

land the LORD is giving you’’ (11:16, 17). History tells us how Israel disobeyed God,

courted the Canaanite religions and brought up on them a terrible tragedy.

700 years before Moses, there lived a remarkable woman who discovered that God was

the one who sees her. As Hagar and her son were thrown out of Abraham’s house and

were facing death by dehydration in the middle of the desert, God had miraculously

rescued her.

When Samuel was sent to anoint a son of Jesse as the future king, he was about to make

a mistake. He almost anointed the wrong son, impressed by his appearance. But God

warned Samuel against him and told the prophet that God does not see as a man sees.

God looks at the heart. David was chosen and anointed. The rest is history.

Jesus had chosen Phillip as His disciple and Phillip told Nathaniel about Him. Nathaniel

went to see Jesus. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, “Here is a

true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit”. Jesus explained to him that he had already

seen him under a fig tree. Nathaniel exclaimed “You are the Son of God! You are the

King of Israel!”. There would have been hundreds of fig trees in Jerusalem at that time

and a number of people under them. But Jesus had recognized the “true Israelite’’. God

looks at the heart!

The Lord does not show Himself strong for just anyone and He does not make just

anyone strong. It is the faithful who inspire Him to move into action. Because they look

to Him and are faithful to Him, He responds accordingly. The Lord is on the side of those

who are on His side. The faithful are not the perfect, for no one is perfect. The faithful

are those whose hearts are right before God.

The eyes of the Lord have seen your loyalty and your faithfulness. Get ready, then, for

the strengthening and the help that is about to come your way.

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