“At such a time as when they were men of number, 

Like a trifle, and sojourners in it,”

(Psalm 105:12)

The psalmist begins with a series of demonstrations of the faithfulness of God, and while this is just the beginning of a longer clause, it is prudent to see where he begins his words. Most English Bibles render the first part of the verse more idiomatically (“few in number”), yet the literal translation is “men of number” and indicates that the group was so small that they could easily be numbered by those who would take a count. 

Of the thousands and millions of people who descended from Adam, God traced a direct line to Noah and saved just eight humans in the flood. In the generations between Noah and Abraham, millions were born, but once again, God chose to work through one man alone and brought his wife, his nephew, and their servants out of Haran and into the promised land. Of the many nations on the planet at the time of the great famine, God preserved 70 with Jacob as they entered into Egypt to become a nation in Goshen. 

If you go through the Bible, one theme you will always find is that God’s elect are but a remnant. As Moses reminds the people of Israel, God did not choose them because they were large and powerful, but because they were small and insignificant (Deuteronomy 7:7) — a “trifle” in the eyes of the nations. And he does this so that His strength will be seen in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). That is the nature of election and that is why God saves by grace and not by the works of men.

Even today, while there are “churches” all around us and many claim to be “Christian,” little has changed. The True Church is scarce in our land and most people don’t even know what they are claiming when they call themselves Christian. Worship in many places looks more like a form of Neo-paganism with every man doing what is right in his own eyes rather than submitting to the Word of God. Yet, despite the fact that the True Church is small. Despite the fact that we are sojourners in a land that is not our own (Philippians 3:20). God is our inheritance. And, though we are weak, holding this great treasure in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7), God makes Himself known through us and in spite of our best (or not so best) efforts. We are but a trifle in the eyes of the world; what makes us not a trifle is God’s election of us in Christ.