Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

God is, “Our Father who art in Heaven” (Mt 6:9). He is also the one who dwells “with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit” (Is 57:15). He is the God up there. He is also the God right here. He is the God before whom I fall in worship and fear. He is also the God who embraces me in my brokenness and with whom I dance in my times of joy. He is the God who dwells in “unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see” (1Tim 6:16). He is also the God we approach with confidence and boldness “so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb 4:16). He is the God who is both infinite and intimate.

As the God who is up there, I know that he sees all things. Nothing escapes his attention, and nothing is ever out of his control. Hurricanes don’t take him by surprise. Persecution doesn’t take him by surprise. Believers being beheaded doesn’t catch him unaware. He is “high and lifted up.” He “inhabits eternity” and his “name is Holy.” He is the God who sees the storms of life before the winds ever start to blow. He is sovereign Lord.

As the God who is right here, I know that he is able “to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Heb 4:15). Tommy Walker wrote these lyrics which express the intimacy of God.

He knows my name

He knows my every thought

He sees each tear that falls

And hears me when I call

He is the God of intimate understanding and love.

We cannot divorce these ideas from one another. God is both infinite and intimate. If we ever forget one side of that equation, or overemphasize one aspect over the other, then we slide into error. We must never lose sight of the truth that God dwells “in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit.” He is not just the God who can scale the heights of theological understanding. He is not just the God of the broken. He is always and forever both.