O LORD, of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?
Psalm 144:3-4 NET
Of what importance is mankind, that you should be concerned about them?
People are like a vapor,
their days like a shadow that disappears.
I never had an ant farm growing up. But I have watched many an ant scurry about searching for food and whatever else it is that ants do. And while I sometimes find them interesting to watch, I do not generally assign much importance to them. I realize that they are essential to the planet’s ecological health. But to me, they are, at best, a curiosity and, at worst, a nuisance.
There are times when I find myself asking the same question that the psalmist does here. Why does God see me any different than I do the ants that mindlessly scurry about? The gulf between God and myself is even greater than what exists between me and an ant. So why would he even notice me, much less care about me? What possible importance could humanity have to God?
I am in my 72nd year of life. Compared to the ants, I am ancient. Yet, compared to the mountains I love to walk through, the span of my life is but a blip. Countless generations of people come and go, and the mountains remain, seemingly unchanged. How much more so when I compare the length of my life with the eternal God? As the psalmist says, my life is but a vapor. Surviving for only a brief moment, and then gone.
So, what importance could I possibly have to God? Amazingly enough, a great deal. He created me, formed me from the dust, and gave me life. And he loves me. So much so that he gave his Son to die on a rough Roman cross so that I might have life eternal with him. He cares about me more than I can begin to imagine. Why? Certainly not because of anything I am or might do. But simply because he is love.
