It’s universal to human experience that big and strong people bully smaller and weaker people. Those with position, influence and power use what they have to take advantage of those who don’t have what they have. Centuries ago, David imagined in Psalm 68:15-16 that even the mountains do the same:
“O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;
O many-peaked mountain, mountain of Bashan!
Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,
at the mount that God desired for his abode,
yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?” – Psalm 68:15-16
The mountains of Bashan, of which Mount Hermon is the tallest, are northeast of Israel and are much taller than Mount Zion, where God had chosen to be most fully present with His people. In David’s picture, size is what matters: the bigger mountains hate the smaller mountains, even knowing that God is there. The big bully the small, and perhaps they do so because they know God is there.
Likewise, people who are well-off in this world often look down on Christians, God’s chosen people. It is rare for the rich, famous, or powerful to publicly testify about Christ, and so we often get excited when athletes, celebrities, or politicians make their faith public. We say to each other, “did you hear so-and-so is a Christian?” It can make us feel like it’s more reasonable and accepted to follow Christ when this happens. It feels good to identify with the rich and powerful.
But what if this rarity of seeing faith in the rich and powerful is intentional on God’s part?
Throughout Scripture God doesn’t identify with the rich and powerful; He identifies with the widow and orphan, with the lonely and outcast. He favors the weak and the exploited.
In 1 Corinthians 1:26, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth: “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.” The first century isn’t much different than to today: the “wise”, powerful and noble rarely testified about Christ. Next Paul wrote: “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are…”
Why? “…so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”
Back to Psalm 68, where we found the mountains of Bashan ridiculing God’s mountain of Zion, David ends with these verses:
“Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
and whose power is in the skies.
Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!”
I’ll rejoice over a public Christian testimony wherever it comes from, but I remember that God doesn’t need the help of the movers and shakers of this world. His power is “in the skies” – way above the mountains that bully His Mount Zion. He is glorified more when His power enables the weak to love Him and love their neighbor.
We might sometimes feel alone and ignored, like we’re not part of the “in crowd” or successful, but that might mean we’re God’s type of person! No celebrity endorsement required.
“Ascribe power to God”
Driving Toward the Morning Sun 