|
“He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure … His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” –– Psalm 147:3-5, 10-11
In baseball, a 5-tool player is both rare and coveted, excelling in all the five dimensions of the game: Hitting for power; Hitting for average; Fielding ability; Throwing ability; and Speed. Obviously, when a team reels in that rare prospect skilled in all five disciplines, they never want to let such a complete player go. One could point to Willie Mays as the prime example of such a complete ballplayer. At the plate, in the outfield, and on the base paths, he was excellence in motion. Ultimate versatility would be an apt descriptor of his play. Why, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that if the organist didn’t show up, Willie could have taken his seat at the keyboard and led the stadium crowd in a rousing rendition of Take Me Out To the Ballgame.
Such versatility comes to mind as I turn to theology and consider a God who can throw another galaxy into the sky, and still make it to your kid’s piano recital on time, giving her courage to face her fears as she walk out to face the audience. Our God determines the numbers of the stars … and … our God heals the brokenhearted. Now that’s versatility! Though there are times when strength and smarts have less than a seamless connection in the human experiment, our Lord, at all times, possesses both power and understanding.
Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent: You have to confess that those tools look pretty good on our Lord’s resume. The Psalmist declares, How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! I try to count them—they are more than the sand; I come to the end —I am still with you. The knowledge of God is inexhaustible, and yet the presence of God remains inescapable. Though the thoughts of our God are so weighty, bathed in inapproachable light, our feeble attempts at faithfulness persist and remain the source of God’s delight. Though the Webb telescope reveals celestial wonders untold, remember that you remain the spark of God’s joy and laughter.
| 
