Psalm 8 - Remember God Loves You
Psalm 8
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
In the Psalm above, we read of the poet’s amazement that the same God who created the stars and the mountains is also “mindful” of humans.
I love how The Message translates verse 3 and 4.
“I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us? Why take a second look our way?”
Perhaps you have had an experience like one I am about to describe.
A few years ago, my entire family took an amazing trip to Hawaii. There were 16 of us, so time alone was a rarity. One evening, however, I was standing alone at the ocean where the waves meet the sand. The sun was just beginning to fall behind the distant water; sunset was in full force. I stood looking to the horizon that seemed to go on forever and then I gazed up at the expanse of space. In that moment I felt a sense of smallness, a sense of insignificance. I was so small and God’s universe so expansive. At that moment, for reasons I do not understand, the Psalmist’s expression came to my mind.
“what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”
At that moment I think I felt the joy of the Psalmist, who reminds us that we are known intimately by God who fashioned each of us by hand. We are each created like handmade pottery and loved just as that potter loves his creation.
Sadly, we often forget this. We get so busy, and the world seems so big, and we often feel so small. But this is not what God intended for us. God desires for us to be in relationship with God. For we were made only slightly lower than the angels.
But how can we have a relationship with one who created the heavens and the earth and who is mindful of everything in the universe? It seems too bold to ask for the attention of such a God, yet we believe in a God who takes the most pleasure in having a relationship with us.
But like any relationship, we must give it energy and time. We need to spend time in prayer and worship and service and fellowship among God’s people. We need to remember to praise God declaring “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
That is my encouragement to you this week—spend time to God. Remember God created you and even though it may not make sense to us—“Why God even bothers with us?”—the Good News is that God loves each of us. In fact, God sent God’s son to die and conquer death so that we would never have to fear being separated from God.
This is the Good News.
Thanks be to God.
