God's Vantage Point From Higher Ground
- Elijah McSwain
- Jul 6
- 12 min read
7/5/2026
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Psalm 113:4-6 (NKJV) The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
Psalm 138:6–7 (NKJV) Though the Lord is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.
The concept of higher ground correlates to a military battlefield. The army that typically secured higher ground had the advantage over opposing forces. The military force that positioned themselves at the highest point in the surrounding terrain created natural cover from opposing forces. The entire army gained a tactical view of the enemy and the field of play. This would enable surveillance and visibility of the surrounding landscape from multiple angles to direct a broader strategy. By securing the higher ground, high-ranking officials would be able to see multiple angles of enemy penetration before a potential attack occurred. This also provided tactical momentum for soldiers. This strategy would allow the army officials to warn and signal fellow soldiers about an impending threat and boost morale on the battlefield. This strategic plan made it pivotal for an army to have a great chance of winning the battle by holding the higher ground. Occupying the higher ground provided tactical, logistical, and psychological advantages in combat. Several advantages are derived from holding higher ground. First, the opposing forces are exhausted more quickly when fighting uphill against the terrain. The natural element of gravity has a tremendous effect on physical stamina and the mental aspect of exposure under these fighting conditions. Secondly, armies on level terrain have a limited range of sight. On one hand, limited sight means that the enemy has limited reach. While the forces that has the higher ground holds a wider radius of view to strategize and attack. Thirdly, it is hard to defend against an opposing force when they can see your position before you see them. Therefore, possession of higher ground is crucial to any battle. In life, some people hold the view that life is an even playing field. This is a sad misconception. Life is not always fair. Life is not always even-handed or level. There are forces that strategically target individuals as we live in a corrupt world. Life is composed of the forces of good and evil. In every sector of life, there are people in high places, positioned for good and for evil. Some individuals operate from the seat of righteousness and godliness, while others operate from the seat of unrighteousness and wickedness. Those who operate under the banner of evil improvise destructive tactics and measures as weapons to oppose people. The captain of such forces is Satan, the leader of hell’s army. He is the ruler of systematic influence in this world. He is the ruler of demonic, satanic, and ungodly control and dominance. Satan seeks to devour individuals as he prowls around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Peter 5:8). The kingdom of the world opposes the kingdom of God. Satan’s efforts are aimed at dismantling, destroying, and causing chaos among God’s kingdom and people. As a deceiver, Satan will use any means necessary in alignment with his evil devices to cause widespread destruction. Every fabric of evil activity among mankind stems from the hands of the evil one.
Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) remarks, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
As Christians on the battlefield for the Lord, we are constantly under attack by the adversary. He attacks us from all angles: mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually, seeking to handicap us on our spiritual journey. His ultimate goal is to destroy us if God permits. But thanks be to God that those of us who are associated with Him have a Captain, a King, and a High-Ranking official who sits high but looks down low. Both passages illustrate that God is our Commander in Chief, who is above all the nations and whose glory is above the heavens. We are advised in question form regarding Psalm 113:5-6 NKJV — “Who is like the LORD our God, Who dwells on high, Who humbles Himself to behold The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?” Psalm 138:6-7 (NKJV) acknowledges, “Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” From these passages, there are two distinct realities for us to ponder, as expressed in the thought, God’s Vantage Point From Higher Ground. As our God is positioned in heaven and looks down, we are able to comprehend the establishment of His exalted position and God’s view from His throne.
The Establishment of His Exalted Position
God is positioned in an elevated place of exaltation. The dialect of Psalm 113:5 uses the word gāḇah for “high” to convey God’s lofty, exalted, upward, and established position. The Hebrew transliteration of the word “high” in Psalm 138:6 is rûm. It means being set on high, being raised up, and being lifted. Psalm 113 teaches that the Lord is high above the nations, His glory is above the heavens, and He dwells on high. God reigns supreme from His throne in heaven. He is transcendently sovereign.
The Lord’s authority is universally established.
He is the Most High, who rules and governs all that is in heaven and on earth. His position is established because all the nations are subject to His government and jurisdiction. He controls what He governs. He controls what He has made. Everything is subject to His rule and power. The psalmist in Psalm 113 asks, “Who is like the LORD, our God, who dwells on high”? This verse implies that His exalted position is incomparable. No one can compare to His splendor, majesty, power, and authority as He reigns from His throne. There is no influential or authoritative leader who measures up to God. He is higher than the highest leader who holds prominence on the earth. He outranks all the leaders of the world combined. The Lord is declared the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the only Potentate. He stands alone in a category of His own. He is above all others. Even His exalted position supersedes and extends beyond the heavens (cf. Psalm 113:4). The heavens cannot contain the glorious state of God, our King.
His glory transcends the boundaries of creation (cf. 1 Kings 8:27).
God is glorious in power, wisdom, truth, His essence, faithfulness, goodness, mercy, grace, counsel, protection, and safekeeping, among other things. Therefore, creation proclaims God’s identity. Psalm 19:1-4 (NKJV) declares that “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth. And their words to the end of the world.” He is the highest pinnacle of rank in heaven and on earth, and creation testifies to His place of permanence. His distinguished rank of exaltation reveals that as God, there is none like Him. We have a Commander in Chief who is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time).
God is matchless in comparison. He is superlative. He is unequaled by human dignitaries and false deities. He is unmatched and unrivaled. He is superior to all.
Psalm 89:6 (NKJV) raises these questions: “For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?”
Albert Barnes commented, “The idea is that none in the regions above - the upper world - can be compared with God. There is no other god - there is no one among the angels, great and glorious as they are, that can be likened to him. The “sons of the mighty” on earth are spoken of as mighty men - as men of power - as men of exalted rank. So here, the idea is, that none though of exalted rank (“principalities,” or “powers,” compare or could be put in comparison with God.” 1
Not even the ruler of darkness, Satan, can match God in power or essence. His influential power is only a small fraction when compared to God’s authoritative power. Satan’s satanic schemes cannot overthrow or dethrone our God from His position of power. Since we have an exalted King who rules by His own might and power, we can trust Him with the circumstances of life. Deuteronomy 33:26-29 (NKJV) reveals, “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds. The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, ‘Destroy!’ Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone……..Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places.” God is unmatched by any force, visible or invisible. As our great protector who sits high, He protects us from the snares of life, from ultimate destruction, and He provides peace in the midst of life’s pain and woes.
Therefore, the psalmist recognized God’s exalted position in relation to His power, glory, and unmatched nature, in contrast to any other force outside the Godhead. Thus, the writer penned “Who is like the Lord” to express the glorious attributes of the Lord. Modern-day individuals have testified to God’s distinctiveness through song, using the lyrical expression “Who is like the Lord? Nobody, who is like the Lord? No, no, no, no, no, nobody. If our God is for us, who can be against us? He will keep His promise, there's nobody like Him.” 2 God is enthroned on high in His dwelling place as our great King. We should take comfort in this fact as we journey through life. Scripture further elaborates upon the glorious King that we serve. Psalm 47:2 (NKJV) states, “For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth.” Psalm 103:19 (NKJV) records, “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.” We are under His kingship, and He looks out for the well-being of His own. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “In greatness, dignity, and power, Jehovah is higher than the highest. His nature is high above the comprehension of his creatures, and his glory even exceeds the loftiest soarings of imagination. “Yet hath he respect unto the lowly.” He views them with pleasure, thinks of them with care, listens to their prayers, and protects them from evil.” 3 God, from His place of higher ground, surveys the landscape of the world He has made, where His children live on earth.
God’s View from Higher Ground
Psalm 113:6 (NKJV) affirms that God “humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth?” The psalmist in Psalm 138:6-7 (NKJV) implied, “Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” God respects the lowly in heart who trust His provisions. His eyes watch the proud in heart, though they are distant from Him. The eyes of the Lord behold every imagery of mankind. His vantage point is unlike any other. His visual perspective encompasses a wide range of activity as He observes the canvas of the earth. Psalm 11:4 (NKJV) acknowledges, “The LORD is in His holy temple, The LORD’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.” God is watchful. He stoops from His established position to gaze upon the affairs of mankind.
Nothing is hidden from His sight. Proverbs 15:3 (NKJV) states, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” The Lord is observant of all movement, animation, and motion within the earth. There is nothing that catches Him by surprise.
A W Tozer wrote “God knows instantly and effortlessly all matter and all matters, all mind and every mind, all spirit and all spirits, all being and every being, all creaturehood and all creatures, every plurality and all pluralities, all law and every law, all relations, all causes, all thoughts, all mysteries, all enigmas, all feeling, all desires, every unuttered secret, all thrones, and dominions, all personalities, all things visible and invisible in heaven and in earth, motion, space, time, life, death, good, evil, heaven, and hell.” 4
Thus, we can be confident in God. God has informed His children that He watches over us and this should give us comfort. This is why the writer in Psalm 138:7 could confidently say, “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me.” At times, life seems like we are on the front-line facing enemy territory. As we move forward, enemies who lie in the shadows of darkness or other places out of sight desire to ambush us. But God, from His throne, navigates the circumstances of our lives to keep us in the midst of trouble. God, in His omniscience and omnipresence, perceives the evil ploys and devices of human invention and stretches out His hand against our enemies to save us. He detects enemy penetration against the kingdom of light. He exposes the corruption that man conjures up. He defends the righteous with His strong hand. The hand of God symbolizes His power. Exodus 15:6 (ESV) clarifies that God’s “right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy.” It has been sanctioned that “The right hand was the pledge of good faith, and the truth or faithfulness of God to his promises (Gen. 15:14; 46:4) is magnified, illustriously displayed, by putting forth his Almighty power in destroying the enemies.” 5 The Lord is our guardian, watching, commanding, and acting from heaven. Under His watchful care, He will sustain His people from the hands of our foes. Psalm 140:4 (ESV) proclaims, “Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men, who have planned to trip up my feet.” Isaiah 59:19 (NKJV) avows, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”
God places His hedge of protection around us as we are in our daily spiritual combat zones.
He will keep you from dangers, seen and unseen, because He cares for us. He keeps His eyes fixed on us. Imagine the King of Glory upon His holy mountain, looking down as He inspects the whereabouts of His heavenly soldiers. Can you imagine His vantage point as He sees our suffering, trials, and tribulations and moves on our behalf? He transcends His presence to make it felt from heaven to earth in the midst of our calamity. He safeguards us from the enemy of sickness, mental distress, confusion, snares, traps, burdens, and plans designed to take us out. It makes no difference what you face in this life; God has His eyes on you. He is watching over the affairs of your life. He will intervene in your struggles, afflictions, and times of despair. As the psalm portrays, God is with us and revives us in the midst of difficult circumstances. The Lord helps us through life’s battles. Deuteronomy 20:4 (NKJV) reveals, “for the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” Psalm 34:15-19 (NKJV) states, “The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears, And delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.”
Be encouraged to know that God sits high, He looks down low, and He defends and shields His people when we face threats in life. Albert Barnes commented, “Though I am in the low vale of sorrow, I shall not be overlooked or forgotten. This implies that the writer was then in trouble, and it expresses the conviction that whenever he should be in trouble God would remember him, and give him life and strength.” 6 Praise the Lord for His goodness, on which we rely. Praise God for keeping us from falling into the enemy’s hands. Praise the Lord for fighting our battles. Praise the Lord for keeping us under His daily surveillance. Praise the Lord, for He is our refuge. Praise Him for being our mighty warrior. Praise Him for His providential care and provisions. W.C. Martin put pen to paper and wrote these words.
“I trust in God wherever I may be,
Upon the land or on the stormy sea;
For come what may, from day to day,
My heav’nly Father watches over me.
I trust in God, I know He cares for me,
On mountain bleak or on the stormy sea.
Though billows roll, He keeps my soul,
My heav’nly Father watches over me.
He makes the rose an object of His care,
He guides the eagle through the pathless air;
And surely He remembers me,
My heav’nly Father watches over me. [R
I trust in God, for in the lion’s den,
On battlefield, or in the prison pen,
Through praise or blame, through flood or flame,
My heav’nly Father watches over me.
The valley may be dark, the shadows deep,
But oh, the Shepherd guards His lonely sheep;
And through the gloom, He’ll lead me home,
My heav’nly Father watches over me.”
Be encouraged that God watches over us.
Notes
Barnes, Albert. “Commentary on Psalms 89:6”. “Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/psalms-89.html. 1870.
Song “Who Is Like The Lord” by Israel Houghton. 2001.
Spurgeon, C. H. n.d. The Treasury of David: Psalms 120-150. Vol. 6. London; Edinburgh; New York: Marshall Brothers.
Brown, David, A. R. Fausset, and Robert Jamieson. N.d. A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Genesis–Deuteronomy. Vol. I. London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited.
Barnes, Albert. “Commentary on Psalms 138:7”. “Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/psalms-138.html. 1870.