psalm 113

The dust and heat is finally settling after a long and dry day under the hot African sun. The animals emerge one by one from the shadows of the acacia trees as they gather around the waterhole to quench their parching thirst. First come the impalas and bushbucks, moving and jumping gracefully over the lower brambles and bushes. They are followed by the towering giraffes, swinging and lowering their long necks into the water to have a drink, mindful of the watchful eyes of the crocodiles hiding just under the surface of the murky water. Behind them, a herd of elephants wonder in slowly, two calves frolicking in the water between the legs of their mothers and aunts. Something suddenly spooks the guinea fowls and sends them racing across the grass in their comical and clumsy panic. The culprit, a lone hyena, is recognised by the unmistakable swing of his shoulders as he slinks towards the water's edge. Above the canopy, maribou storks and vultures sit in their acacia trees like judges waiting to deliver a long deliberated verdict, all under the vast and cloudless African sky of the deepest blue.

Praise the Lord! Every fluff of a feather, ​every twitch of an ear, and every flicker of a tail does not go unnoticed by our almighty and wonderful God who created each and every one of these animals! How much more then will He care for each and every one of us, whom He has known and loved before we were born, when we were still in our mother's wombs? Matthew 10:29 tells us 'that not one of [these sparrows] will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered...Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows'.