Psalm 8
Our God is absolutely holy. What that means is that He's totally separate from and far above all His creation. He doesn't need anything to make Him happy, for He is and should be entirely satisfied with His infinitely glorious Self. All creation gloriously expresses His Nature, yet it mustn't be assumed that He has any need for that expression. He is not incomplete without it. God creates because it's His nature thus to express Himself, not out of any need for it.
David's theme in this psalm is wonder and praise of the holy God. When he leads the worshippers to sing, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens," he's just praising the Self-existent, Self-sufficient, yet at the same time Self-expressing God.
Yet while he praises the God Who is high above even all His Self-expressing works, yet he is also praising a God Who allows even the humblest of His creation to bring Him praise. He sings, "Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength."
David is actually referring to himself. Even though he isn't literally a "babe" or a "nursing infant," yet in comparison both to God Himself and to the majesty of God's creation, he is as comparatively insignificant as they. And by inspiring and allowing even such an insignificant one as David to be the successful king of God's people, God reveals His own ability to strengthen and bless - thus silencing the taunting of Israel's enemies.
The mere thought of such an infinitely wise and powerful God awes David. He's forced to say, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" He's amazed that so great a God would use a humble man like himself to accomplish any of His works!
So he goes on to express the amazing privilege and responsibility God has bestowed upon a member of mankind - to be over "the works of Your hands." By using such humble servants, God just reveals His own immense wisdom and power in the earth, and David therefore concludes by singing again, with all his might, "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth!"
We should join David in this song. It should be our song too. We ought to thank our gracious God for giving us work to do in this His world, however humble or seemingly insignificant. We do it by His wisdom and power, and we thereby reveal His glory in all that we do.
It never ceases to amaze me that a God who is all powerful and all knowing, would use me to minister to someone. Most of the time I don't even know that I m doing it,until that person tells me so, It has to be God becuse I don't think it is I.
This is a beautiful worship Psalm.
Marilyn
And not only do we glorify God in ministering to people, but even the daily, mundane work we do each day glorifies Him! Marilyn - think about that library. To Whom do all those books belong, really? Where did all the wisdom, knowledge, etc. come from to create them? And Whose creatures are being blessed by reading them? And, finally, Whose Nature do you glorify when you do a good job taking care of everything and dealing with everybody. Praise Him! It's all His!
I see that I wrote in here in April of 2003, So here I am in a new location and re-reading the Psalms.
In the NCV it says in verse 4 "But why are people so important to you? Why do you take care of human beings?" I think that Christians wouldn't ask this question if they really knew and understood who God is and His love for us being unconditional.
Verse 5 tells us that we are a little lower thant he angels and crowned with glory and honor. Just think of how much God loves us to have already crowned us with glory and honor.
In verse 6 He has put us in charge of everything he made and put all things under our control.
What an awesome thought. That is the same as he did for Adam and Eve, giving them dominion over all the earth and everything in it.
And He will do it yet again. See Romans 8:18-23.
Amen and amen !
Thank-you Pastor.
I love this psalm. It is so praiseful and uplifting.
My son teases me as I love to look out at the night sky and think about God. Yes I think about Him during the daylight hours too but at night when I can't sleep, which is very often I find great peace and consolation as I look up and realise how vast the Heavens are and how vast is our God.Sometimes (especailly last night) I prop myself up in bed and open the blinds and look out and talk to Our Heavenly Father...it is so wonderful "what is man that You are mindful of him"....
God bless Pastor Al.
Love to you and Marbeth.
Jenny.
We think it wonderful that our God takes any notice at all of us, for He is so great, and we are so small and insignificant. But the fact of the matter is that He takes infinitely great notice of us just because He IS so great! He is interested equally, as sovereign Lord of the universe, in the small and in the great. He's GOD.