Classroom Management: the Eyes of the Professor

Psalm 34:15-16

15        The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous

                        and his ears toward their cry.

16        The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,

                        to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

            Regardless of grade level—even in college—classroom management is a necessity. The eyes of the instructor or teacher are ever present watching to see if the students are understanding the material and “getting it.” And yes, sometimes there are disciplinary issues that need to take place when a student gets out of line.

            The eye of the Professor Jesus is an all-seeing eye. As students in Professor Jesus’ class, we might not always understand why we must suffer. We don’t always understand the ways of God. “Why is it that I follow the Lord and there are bad things that happen to me?” “Why is it that it seems like those who don’t live by God’s word and rules seem to be getting away with it? It almost seems easier for me to simply compromise my faith and go to the ‘other’ class with the other students.”

            Be certain that the eyes of the Professor are always toward you. God has made you one of His righteous people, therefore, He certainly and indeed hears your cries. He is paying strict attention to His students in His classroom. And the eyes of the Professor are also on those who are not enrolled in His class. God is truly against those who do not attend His class. And yet, God still is calling them to attend His class. The general truths in 34:15-17 hold true if we are not fooled by appearances. Yhwh does indeed reign. He is indeed in control. The Good Professor sees His students and knows who they are. He knows you! ^[1]

            Here are some words from the Early Church:[2]

A FAVORABLE LOOK. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: God takes care of the righteous (by “eyes” referring not simply to sight but also to what is done by God in beneficence and providence). . . . He also accepts their requests. . . . But he has an eye also for the wicked, though not in the same way as for the good. To what effect? “To destroy remembrance of them from the land”: . . . God gives evidence of great care for the righteous, accepting their supplication while completely disregarding those guilty of wrong actions and inflicting destruction on them. COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 34.16A–17B.⁵⁷

FOR OUR GOOD. AUGUSTINE: “But if he heard me, he would take my trouble away; I appeal to him, but I still have the trouble.” Just hold steady and keep to his ways, and when you are in trouble he hears you. But he is a physician, and there is still some diseased tissue in you. You cry out, but he goes on cutting, and he does not stay his hand until he has done all the cutting he knows to be necessary. In fact, it is a cruel doctor who listens to the patient’s cries and leaves the festering wound untouched. And think how mothers rub their children down vigorously in the bath, for their own good. The little ones cry out in their mothers’ hands, don’t they? Does that mean the mothers are cruel in not sparing them, in ignoring their tears? Are they not really full of tender love? All the same, the children cry, and they are not let off. So too our God is full of charity, but he seems to be deaf to our entreaty because he means to heal us and spare us for all eternity. EXPOSITIONS OF THE PSALMS 34.20.⁵⁸

34:16 Against Evildoers

A DIFFERENT GAZE. CASSIODORUS: After explaining the grace toward the just, he now turns his attention to the punishment of the wicked. . . . Understand that he sees both groups, but his gaze results in a different outcome for each group; he looks at the just to hear them, but looks upon sinners to destroy them. When he says “from the earth,” he means the future homeland, which only those who have pleased God will possess. The “remembrance” of the sinners will perish, because there will not be any recollection of them among the just. . . . Those who leave the Lord’s memory surely go on to eternal punishments. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 34.17.

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^[1] Timothy E. Saleska, Psalms 1–50, ed. Christopher W. Mitchell, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 551.

[2] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. OT Vol. 7, 266.