His Eye is on the Sparrow

Last Sunday at Church we sang one of my old time favorite hymns. It is one of my favorites because it is one of the first hymns I ever learned. I didn’t grow up singing hymns, so at first, it was hard following the words and music of such classic pieces of worship; but “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” for some reason, resonated in me. Since I first heard it, I liked it and I learned enough of it to sing it to my boys as a lullaby when they were little. I stopped singing lullabies to them as soon as they got big enough to realize their mother can’t sing…but it is funny, they remember it. Grant, for example, immediately reacts with loving attention every time he hears the first notes of its melody. He calls it, “Mama’s song.” So on Sunday, we sang “Mama’s song” at church (well, I didn’t, really, I’m sick and congestion makes my already horrible singing even worse.)

Later in the evening, when the boys were getting ready for bed; I heard the glorious notes of the treasured melody bouncing off the walls of our house as Grant was singing it. Dan asked me if I had heard him singing. I just nodded, overcome by emotion and joy.

The next day, however, I hit kind of an emotional low. I felt insignificant and irrelevant. I felt incapable of effecting change. I felt helpless and a tad hopeless. It might have been the rain or perhaps the news. There is not much out there to celebrate about the state of the nation, the recent burglaries in our small community or the downfall of our society as a whole. Maybe it is the godlessness that surrounds us. Perhaps it was just because it was Monday. (All of the above could be a feasible reason too) I don’t know, but days like last Monday threaten my hope; and I don’t like feeling that way. After all: This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118: 24

So I decided to focus my sight on a more eternal perspective. That’s how the Holy Spirit brought me back to Sunday’s service and the precious hymn. I looked up the lyrics online and I read it carefully. As I read it, the memories of Grant’s sweet voice filled my mind,

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

There is no room for discouragement and disappointment. Jesus IS our portion and He knows exactly what we need. We feel discouraged when we allow the enemy to manipulate us. The enemy cannot read our thoughts. Only God is omniscient. He sure can predict our reactions, though. The enemy knows our weak spots and hot buttons. And he does not hesitate to push them. It is no wonder that Peter warns us in his first letter, chapter 5:8: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Armed with the power of the Holy Spirit who does live within us, we can stand up to the enemy and rebuke him and his evil schemes. The Holy Spirit gives us clarity to see the truth and tools to change our focus.

We are worth more than the sparrows, Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10,

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
As such, He tells us in the hymn,

“Let not your heart be troubled,' His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Our God is sovereign. Nothing happens here on earth that catches Him by surprise. He is seated in His throne day and night. He is the God Who Sees. Even when we despair because of the state of decay we see ourselves surrounded by, His eye is on the sparrow. He watches us and He is in control over all the earth and its temporary rulers. For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16: 9

Regardless of how unjust, unfair, un-free, ungodly, unconstitutional or un-American we think our society has become, we must remember that the ultimate power resides in Him, for,

He rules forever by his power,
his eyes watch the nations—
let not the rebellious rise up against him. Psalm 66: 7

Nothing escapes Him. Even if we think injustice goes unpunished,

His eyes are on the ways of mortals;
he sees their every step. Job 34: 21
And one day we will all go before the judgment seat in front of the Ancient of Days.

In the meantime, I wish to remember that,

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
In the meantime, I will pray that my focus doesn’t deviate from Him; and that the thought of the freedom I have in Him is enough to make me happy and make me sing. (Even if all around me have to cover their ears : )