Psalm 8
O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Lord, our Lord! How majestic is your name in all of this earth. It doesn’t seem that most people consider your name to be majestic. But it is! and it cannot be otherwise, for you alone are God.
You have set your glory above the heavens. It is other-worldly. It is not common to us.
And every. single. human. will take a knee when we behold your coming glory!
But it is your patience and your long-suffering that restrain its coming and the judgment it will usher, in order that more may come to know you.
When I look to the skies, to the work of your fingers: the sun, the moon, and the stars and their rhythms; how they keep order to seasons, months, years, and time; how a black-out sun from the shadow of the moon speaks to an order and tempo set by you, it makes me feel small. And I am. We are.
To say that we originated from those same skies exploding billions of years ago to form this intricate world around us–bringing incomprehensible order from a fiery chaos–is a denial of your majesty. If man believes in explosion rather than design, he justifiably denies his own creator. He is able to live unaccountable to you and instead live entirely unto himself.
And that is how many live today–unto self.
O God, what is man that you are mindful of us?
How can you endure our scoffing at your majesty?
Who is man that you care for us and even care about us?
Yet you made us a little lower than the angels. You crowned us with glory and honor. You gave us something we did not possess apart from you, something we did not deserve. You gave us dominion over creatures and land: to care for and to steward.
But we have not done right with this glory. Rather than reflect it back to you, we have kept it for ourselves. Collectively, we humans shake a fist at our creator. We give no honor and majesty to the glory that is due you.
But it is your way to confound the proud with small things. Through the mouths of babies and infants — through these, you establish strength. You will silence your enemies, with the words –and perhaps the blood– of babies and infants.
May these things not be so of your people. Let us bear your name with glory and honor, reflecting back to you what you alone have bestowed on us.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Amen.
