Look to the Hills

The wind whistled by us as we stood at an overlook in the Great Smokey Mountains. We would soon drive to see a black bear playfully enjoying the forest near town. But these mountains were the scene I had been waiting to receive into my spirit. Layers of blue filled my sights as the mountain peaks stretched before me. The sky met them with its own brilliance—the day was clear and all was bright.

On that trip to Tennessee, we stayed high in the mountains, engulfed in them. I settled by the fireplace and enjoyed the feel of a new Bible in my hands—a souvenir of my time and visit there. The back windows of our room overlooked a mountain stream—and sometimes, we witnessed wildlife enjoying the same land we were absorbing. The pages of my Bible were feeling fresh in my hands, and I turned to familiar passages as I embraced anew the comfort, peace, and love of God. I used time to pray for those closest to my spirit—surrounding others with the Word of God in prayer just as the Smokey Mountains were surrounding me.

The Mountain Range of God’s Word

As I was reading these familiar verses, it struck me that the mountains are a cozy analogy representing the purpose of the Scriptures in our lives. Just as the mountains surround us with warmth, so too the Holy Scriptures surround us with the warmth of God’s protection. I think of stopping at the overlook of the psalms. I see mountains of poetic writing, but I also see their stunning layering as psalms speak back into King David’s life, for example—where God was present—and also speak forward to the life of Christ—when God walked among us.

I think too of the peaks of the epistles in the New Testament. These men of God took the teachings and work of Jesus, all that they learned and saw in his life and death, expounded upon them, and through the Spirit show what it means to live as a Church and as Christians on this earth while waiting for Christ’s return. The mountains are layered like a breathtaking scene— with multiple peaks before us just as the different writers of Scripture take us to different theological heights. Just like the seeming endless depth of the mountain range, God’s Word has an endless depth of meaning to be enjoyed and applied to our lives.

God’s Word as a Habitat to Inhabit

During this trip, the mountains were my context. We climbed them, we rode among them, and we enjoyed them as scenery. This also turned my thoughts to the Scriptures, and how they provide the context for our lives.

The Scriptures are not merely a daily reading or what we hear preached on Sundays. They are the stuff of life. They can inform our thoughts, our feelings, and even our moods. We can always go to them. And, when we learn from them, we are literally living them out in our lives. When we have trials, we would do well to go to the Scriptures. When we have fears, the Scriptures can be searched for comfort. When we experience tragedy, or the death of a loved one, we are wise to use Scripture to ground us in the realities of eternity.

When I was in the Tennessee mountains, I took an aerial tramway to reach new scenery. There, rubbing the shoulders of those I didn’t know, we looked out at the beaming ridges and cliffs before us—creating a picture of absolute splendor. The tram was packed with mesmerized visitors, all enjoying the same view.

At the peak, there were activities and places to eat, but my favorite part was unequivocally the continued, uncontested, unspoiled view.

What is our view of the Scriptures? It occurs to me that viewing the Scriptures like the mountain peaks may be overwrought. There is after all some seriously sorrowful points too—like the fall of man into sin, the continued disobedience of Israel in the Old Testament, the reality of false teachers in the Church, and more. But there are also peaks. And it may be my pessimism, but the peaks have come into view more slowly.

However, the more I go to the Scriptures to see the marvelous things in God’s Word (Psalm 119:18), the more I notice that consistently reading the Scriptures gives me a peace that cannot be matched. Making this view my daily habit and daily joy means giving myself to God’s Word which fills me with daily with a distinctly Christian hope. The fall, our disobedience, and the disaster of false teaching in the Church are not the final state of God’s people. And I think that he wants us to understand so.

Look at the View

When God says that he will show us marvelous things in his Word, he means that we will see the peaks of his unending love despite our sin, and his ability to bring goodness from sorrow and suffering. When God wants to show us marvelous things in his Word, it means that we are filled with the promises of glory that inform the longing of our days. It means we have future expectations. We see beyond the confines of the world as we are lifted to the heavens.

Reading the Word of God is to be surrounded by a matchless view. It is to be transported by tram to the mountainous movements of God in this world that call us back to himself so that we can live in his presence and promote his glory in all the earth forever.

I cannot speak too highly of the Scriptures and what joy I learn from them. They are my home, my abode. They are my hope and foundation. When we lift our eyes to the hills to see where our help comes from, we see that it is the Lord alone (Psalm 121:1). We will all journey through these peaks to reach the new Jerusalem—our eternal city and home (Heb. 11:16). To know so, to know this city is our future, is our life’s context—our eternal help and blessing.

The optimism of my words does not always match the realty of my life. But the sweeping view of Scripture does remind us that our earthly contexts are not the most real, applicable, and reliable contexts available to us. Our daily life might be fraught with challenge, or worse—but our true bearings in the Scriptures remain the same.

I have since traveled home from those mountains (and I miss them, I assure you). But the new Bible I bought home – emblazoned with the mountains across the cover—has been in my hands reminding me that while I may not be in those analogous mountains anymore, I am always surrounded by the greatness of the Scriptures that point me to the eternal love of God in Jesus. The Scriptures tell my story, much more accurately than the circumstances of my life. And God’s Word tells me what is beautiful in my life—the truth of the Lord—even when I find my life feels less than inspiring.

Look to the hills, friends. Your help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.