The Cattle on a Thousand Hills

Perhaps you've heard the phrase, "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills." You know ... referring to God. As it turns out, it was God Himself who said it. And then some.

"Every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine" (Psa 50:10-11).

Now, most of us would be happy to acquiesce on this. "Yes, God, it's all yours." So why is it that we don't actually believe it? Oh, you didn't know that? Consider. When something goes wrong, do you complain, "Why, God?!", or do you say, "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord"? Is your spouse yours or His? Are your children yours or His? Do you actually believe that "everything that moves" is His? Or does some of it belong to you?

We do it without thinking, really. A product of the Fall. "Did God say ...?" We aim to be like God (Gen 3:5). We worship the creature rather than the Creator (Rom 1:25) without even realizing it. Even Christians do it.

I find it fascinating the point God made in that passage in the Psalms. "If I were hungry I would not tell you" (Psa 50:12). We actually think that way sometimes, don't we? God needs us. I mean, if it wasn't for us, He wouldn't be able to get out the Gospel, save souls, reach the lost, that sort of thing. Maybe you've even heard this phrase: We are God's arms on earth. God told Israel that He owned everything to inform them that He didn't need them. Or us. Oddly the mistake Israel made is the one we make, and when you think about it it's really convoluted. "You thought that I was just like you" (Psa 50:21). That is, instead of making ourselves into gods, we try to reshape God into our image. All the time. Without success. And to our own peril.

What to do? "He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God" (Psa 50:23).

God owns everything. He needs nothing from us. We can't condescend to do Him a good turn. Instead, the two primary human problems are a failure to obey and a failure to give thanks ... the two things He recommends we do in order to see the salvation of God. Can we do these things perfectly? No, not now. But it would probably be a good idea to work on them ... both.