The Hand of the Lord
One of the thoughts we find most comforting is summed up in that song which has the phrase, “He’s got the whole world in His hands.” Each verse then talks about how He has “you and me brother” and “you and me sister” and “the little bitty babies” in His hands. The very concept that we are cradled in the hands of God brings peace to our soul.
He is mighty and powerful and the fate of the world is in His hands.
The phrase, “the hand of the Lord,” is found thirty-nine times in the Bible. It is most frequently used to describe those times when God moved in judgment against the wicked. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Heb. 10:31). On the other hand, it is wonderful to envision our calling out to God and see His almighty arms reach down from heaven and His tender hands to hold us. It is true that “He’s got you and me in the hollow of His hand.”
The people in Isaiah’s day failed to realize that sin can destroy this situation. They had prayed to God and could see no evidence that He was helping them. The prophet explained the reason for this. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2). If sin had not been in their lives, His face would have been turned toward them and His hands extended toward them.
Jesus described the wonderful blessing of being in the hand of God. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand” (John 10:29). We may choose to turn against God, but there is no man on earth and no demon from hell who can snatch us from His hand. “He’s got you and me in the hollow of His hand.”
God holds us in His hand. Have you ever considered how great His hand is? How does His hand compare with the hands of others? How great is His hand? To see this, consider that the diameter of the entire universe is thought to be over 93 billion light years. (A light year is the distance light travels in one year). The universe is 5,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles wide! Now look at Isaiah’s description of this in relationship to the size of the hand of God. God has “…measured heaven with a span” (Isa. 40:12). The span of a man’s hand is the distance between his thumb and his little finger when fully extended. God’s hand fully extended is larger than our universe. How wonderful it is to know that it is this hand that holds us. “He’s got you and me brother, you and me sister, in the hollow of His hand.”