Have you ever read a chapter of scripture that has just captivated you, I mean really captivated you? You dwell on it for days, weeks, even months. Thinking about the truths that the stanzas hold, the poetically written verses that truly capture what a wonderful and powerful God that we serve. For me, that has always been Psalm 8.
In the first few verses of this chapter, David acknowledges the covenant name (LORD; Yahweh), but he also spoke to the positional name of God to his people (Lord). David examines the power of God and the power that is shown in all of His creation.
Something that is always so beautiful to me is in the second verse. David points out that even children can see the power and glory of God. If you know me, you know that right now I teach toddlers at a preschool, and spending my days watching them grow and discover new things is so rewarding to me! I am not sure that I can think of anything more vulnerable than an infant or even a toddler. There is just something so beautiful about the same God who gives those babies strength to learn and grow is the same God that gives me strength when I am weak. In 1 Corinthians 1:27, Paul writes
"God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty."
Throughout scriptures, God always seems to use unlikely people to bring silence to the enemy. In Matthew 21:15-16, we see Jesus talking to his accusers and even gives them the identity of the enemy and avenger that is discussed at the end of verse two.
In verses 3-5, we see that David truly understands just how big and vast the universe that God created truly is! Recently, I watched the movie, “I Still Believe” and there is a scene where the characters are in an observatory. Melissa, Jeremy Camp's girlfriend, points out that every star, every blade of grass, every cell, every microscopic organism is known and created by God and yet, He knows my name! We are mere specks in regard to just how big the universe really is and how big our God is. God made us with His hands, but David knows that God is “mindful of us” meaning He cares for us. There is so much peace in knowing that God still loves us and created us all in His image, living among all of His other creations and having dominion over them. Wowza!
If I am honest, I really struggled with understanding verse 5. So I am going to do my best to explain. The verse says, “For you have made him a little lower than the angels”, to me I interpreted this as David understanding that God did not make us equal to the angels. Doing some digging on this verse, I found a few different viewpoints as well. The word angels translates to Elohim which most often refers to God himself but some scholars believe that David was meaning to say that man is less than God, trying to stress the matter that we are made in his image.
As the rest of the chapter explains, when God created every living thing on the earth, including Adam and Eve, He created it all with a purpose. He created us to rule over his creation, to tend to his creation, and to love it just as He loves and tends to us. There is however a danger of us being too obsessed with the things that God created. God designed us to have dominion over His creation, but the danger comes when we become slaves to those things. Our fulfillment is to be found in Jesus, not by man or anything else in creation (Hebrews 2:5-9).
This chapter was filled with little details about God both as a caregiver and a creator. Our God is so detailed in creating all of the things that make up his creation. My biggest takeaway from this chapter would have to be just how powerful yet personal our God is. He created and counted every star, blade of grass, and hair on our heads, He knows the stars by name and He knows my name too! I am just in complete awe that a God who has the power to speak the universe into existence, longs for me to have a relationship with Him! Our God is so good, y’all! So, so, incredibly good!
I hope that you all are enjoying this little series that we are starting for the next few weeks! I know that the Psalms hold lots of prayers and songs that are still so relevant in our lives today! I am looking forward to learning more as we continue on in this series!
Have a happy week gang!
- Courtney
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