God Has His Eye On You by Maxie Dunnam

God has his eye on you. That’s what the psalmist says. Some may cower back from the question, “what is man that you are mindful of him?”(Psalm 8:4). Frightened even, thinking of God as a judge who is not going to let us get away with even the least wrong-doing. 

Let’s look more broadly and attentively, “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him” (NKJV). Visit here means “to attend to, to observe,” so the NRSV has it “mortals that you care for them.” 

Come on! Rise from any cowering back in self-disdain or self-depreciation. God has his eye on you. Even when we forget, he remembers. Even when we get lost and wander away, he keeps us in mind. He knows who we are. 

The prophet Isaiah kept reminding Israel that God would not forget the nation he had chosen to be an instrument of his redemption. He was confident that there is no way for us to get beyond the scope of God’s love. This commentary on Isaiah 12-13 tells us more:

God always acts to redeem and rescue us. We can’t out-run, out-give, out-last, or out-grow God’s love. Out of the depth of that love, God delivered the people of God out of Egypt, moved an army to deliver the people of God from exile, and later would send the son to rescue the world. The whole of scripture captures God’s great love affair with humanity. We may try to run and hide, but the arm of God’s love for us is always long enough to reach and rescue us.  (Wesley Study Bible, “Love of God,” p. 830)

The final answer to the question “what is man?” is answered in Jesus. In all sorts of ways, he answers the question, but in one particular way he gives us the answer of who we are by telling us who God is. Jesus called God, “abba, father” (Mark 14:36). He taught us to pray, “our father…” (Matt. 6:9). Don’t forget: we are God’s children. God knows who we are.

“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?” Lift up your heart. God has his eye on you. Even when we forget, he remembers. Even when we get lost and wander away, he keeps us in mind. Ponder that. God knows who you are. He has his eye on you.