Majesty and Me

Grace and peace to each of you! Today is another beautiful day, a gift from the Lord our God. Each time we come together to study and reflect on a passage from God's Word we gain a very special blessing. I think it makes the Lord smile to see his children come together to think about spiritual things instead of frittering away all our time on stuff that really doesn't matter that much. Chris is away for a few days and has asked me to write in his place. What an honor that is! His thoughtful and insightful comments always help me a lot. I hope that something I write can also be a blessing to each one of you. Please add to the enjoyment by freely commenting. The more the merrier!

Psalms has always been one of my favorite places to go for spiritual encouragement. They speak to me in so many situations and moods of my life. Today we are reading Psalm 8. Please read it aloud a few times and let it sink into your soul. I found the first and last verses inspiring. Repetition is a form of emphasis, and here we cannot miss the mood of glorifying and praising God!

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name

in all the earth!

When I read this aloud I feel the overwhelming emotion of praise that David (the writer) is giving to the Lord. My soul joins with his in praising the Lord - our Lord! What an amazing thing it is to have a relationship with God! He is not only God, he is our God. He is not just the Lord, he is our Lord. It is appropriate and expected then that we should give him enthusiastic and sincere praise.

This chapter speaks to my heart about relationships. There are two parties in this relationship: God, the Creator, and mankind, the created. This is not a relationship between two equals. It is a relationship between the Divine and the Human. That is a strange and wonderful combination.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and stars which you have set in place, ...



The words of this chapter lay out breathtaking panorama before us. God's glory is set on display for all to see! His glory is above the heavens. The span of the universe is only the beginning of the glory of our Lord. What a spectacle of light and power is set forth in the night sky -- the moon and the stars.

I love the way David describes the creation of the universe.  The unfathomable depths of space and the planets and exploding stars and galaxies seem to call for huge explosions, mighty thunders and power upon power. And yet, here David paints the picture of our Lord carefully setting the stars one by one into their place with his fingers. I love that thought -- the huge universe in the fingers of our Lord!

Äfter presenting the glory and majesty of our Lord, our Creator, then David changes gears and begins to show a contrast in relationships. He poses this question:

 . . .what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

There is such a contrast between God and man,and yet God crowns us with glory and honor! He gives mankind power over all the earth and everything in it -- on the land, in the sea and in the air. What a great responsibility we have been given to our earth! The way we use our planet and resources is part of our service to our Lord. We need to take care of our bodies too because as Christians we are temples in which the Holy Spirit lives. You and I are caretakers for our God.

Science and religion often come into conflict in our time.We have been blessed with many good things through scientific research but many have left their faith in God and put all their trust into the science of mankind. I hope you and I can be like the children and infants in this passage who praise and honor God when we see the amazing display of His power in the universe. The eyes of a small child when he looks at the moon and stars say it all! And Jesus said that we must become as little children if we want to enter the kingdom. Let's not become jaded by scientific fact to the point that we are blinded to the glory of God that is visible all around us.

Majesty and mankind -- God and man -- my God and I. The great Lord over the universe has a relationship with me! He hears my smallest prayer and knows my every thought and motive. He feels my joy and my pain. He wants me to be with Him. He knows MY name! Wonder of wonders!

May the Lord give us the eyes of a child so that we can always see His glory. May we never stop praising Him and telling Him how thankful we are for His love and care. And, I hope we will grow closer to each other because after all, we are brothers and sisters in God's family. God bless you as you go through this day with a song in your heart and praise on your lips.

K.B.