Lifting Our Eyes Beyond the iPhone
Somewhere around age 11 or 12 I received an alarm clock as a birthday present. I am sure I was hoping for, and probably asked for, something more exciting. Does any preteen see an alarm clock as a reward for successfully completing another year of life?! I suspect that my mother was giving me a signal that it was time for me to manage myself in the morning and no longer depend upon her to make sure I got up and ready for school.
As technology has advanced, I suspect that many, or even most, of us now set alarms and reminders on our phones. That one “do it all device” we carry around helps us organize, be on time, remember, or engage with information or people with a simple voice command. My iPhone can do an EKG, tell me my pulse, the distance I walked today, my oxygen saturation level, and find me a recipe for tonight’s dinner. And at a simple voice command I can send a text, get directions, or call a friend. That old alarm clock was so limited compared to the iPhone I depend on every day.
But my iPhone can also be a powerful distraction. Without any difficulty, our devices can lead us to good information and misinformation. Our apps can help us navigate but sometimes also lead us to the wrong destination. The “help” that is available to us through these devices is powerful but also powerfully dangerous in keeping us from seeing each other and worse, from seeing and turning to our greatest source of help, the God of creation.
Sometimes I wonder if our fear was greater before or after we had so much technology and information at our fingertips. As I read Psalm 121 this morning, it struck me how similar our concerns and fears are to those of the ancient psalmist.
“I will lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord.”
I wonder how many times we might be ashamed to admit that our behavior suggests a line like this is our reality: “I will lift up my eyes from my iPhone. From where does my help come? My help comes from Google, AI, Amazon, Facebook, and Fox News.”
Some of these sources may be helpful sometimes, but none of them can be, do, or replace what is ours through the promises of scripture. The psalmist reminded himself and his audience that it is the Lord who made heaven and earth, and that the God of creation is the one who watches over us in any and every situation we face.
So today, go ahead and set an alarm and have your phone give you directions to your destination, but don’t get lost in the mindless search for meaning or help from your technology. Instead, read and pray Psalm 121 and call on the God of creation to keep your going out and coming in, from this time forth and forevermore!
Father, thank you for this powerful reminder from the Psalms that tells us that you are our keeper. Today we surrender our lives to you, trusting fully that you will not be asleep in our moment of need but will always be watching, helping, protecting, and providing for us. We praise you and thank you for being the source of our help. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Psalm 121:1-8 ESV
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