The God Who Rides in the Heavens

Perspective is everything. What I can see from the top of Mount Mitchell is so different from what I can see on Mackey’s Creek. The problem is that if I live on Mackey’s Creek I only get a “Mackey’s Creek” perspective.

God is not like that.

In Psalm 68 King David is staring down enemies. They are fierce…people who hate God. He writes, “As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away; as wax melts before fire, so the wicked shall perish before God!” (vs. 2). In verse 3 he describes the righteous as they wait for God to exact justice. At the end of the psalm is the declaration of a God who “rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.” (vs. 33)

Who is this God who rides in the heavens, who sits above it all, who sees from a vantage point no one has? Is God aloof? Does he care? Can he identify with earthlings?

Verse 4 answers that question:

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the Lord; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

Psalm 68:4-6, ESV

The God who rides in the heavens rides through the deserts–your desert. To the orphan he is dad, to the widow He is protector, to the homeless he is a homemaker, to the prisoner he is the just judge who leads you out to prosperity. If God only rode in the heavens, he would be distant, detached, indifferent. If God only rode through the desert he would be dependent, defenseless, finite.

The God who rides in the heavens rides through your desert.

William Cowper, who battled depression and anxiety, wrote eloquently about the God who rides in the heavens and through the desert:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm

Deep in unsearchable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense
But trust Him for His grace
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face

His purposes will ripen fast
Unfolding every hour
The bud may have a bitter taste
But sweet will be the flower

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain
God is His own interpreter
And He will make it plain

So what do you do in the meantime? Let him carry you. Verse 19 is where we live…between the God who rides through the desert and in the heavens.

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.

Psalm 68:19