Glory above the Heavens


Psalm 8
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens.
2Out of the mouth of babies and infants, You have established strength because of Your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,
4what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
6You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
This is one of those psalms that beg the reader to put themselves in David’s shoes. Imagine yourself staring up into the night sky before airborne and light induced pollution blotted the view. As the Milky Way, the moon, the sun, and even the incredible world around you are viewed, a single human being becomes alarmingly insignificant. When we stack ourselves up against the grandeur of creation, who do we think we are!?! I still remember seeing Shirley McClain’s movie about her life where she stands on a cliff overlooking the ocean screaming “I am god, I am god.” Sheesh. She couldn’t produce even one of those grains of sand upon which she stood so I’m not sure where her god complex came from that day. Taken at face value alone, in comparison with all that surrounds us, we don’t amount to much.

But here is where the truth of God breaks through in David’s words of praise. God holds our little unremarkable selves in the highest esteem. He has placed us at the center of His creative work. That has been proven to us in the death of His own son for us for while we might be puny when compared with the vastness of the created universe we are of infinite value when held in the scarred palm of our Savoir.

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?

While the moon and the stars many be able to glorify God with their brilliant beauty, we are allowed to glorify Him with our love and devotion. He is so mindful of us and our need that He sent Jesus so that we may be free to love Him. And if our praises are not loud enough, He accepts the praises of the children as well. I have a dear friend whose little granddaughter marvels at and enjoys vocally a giant mural of the creation painted on the back all of their Sanctuary. Those are true praises and according to this psalm, that’s how God hears them. I’ll tell you what, that makes my heart glad and then I praise Him again too!

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