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440_Man created for God’s glory

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!

Years ago, a well-known astronomer lectured publicly on the universe. He spoke about galaxies billions of light-years away, of stars thousands of times larger than our sun, of nebulae that glowed with colors we would never see with the naked eye. After the lecture, a small boy approached him timidly and asked, “Sir, if the universe is so big and we are so small, do we really matter at all?” The astronomer had no answer. But Psalm 8 does.

David, the shepherd-king of Israel, asked the same question centuries earlier as he looked up into the night sky. His heart was overwhelmed with of all he saw. But he also realized that God, the Maker of so much beauty and grandeur, cares about man. It is an astonishing truth. God knows each of us, not in general but personally and thoroughly. This is not because of our greatness – but because God is great.

Psalm 8 opens and closes with the same majestic refrain: “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” David begins with an upward look rather than looking inward at himself. His gaze is filled with God. He calls him “Yahweh,” by the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush, the name by which God made a covenant with his people Israel. He also calls him “Adonai,” meaning Master or Sovereign. He is the God who exists of himself, uncreated, sovereign, the God and King of Israel and of all the earth.

God, eternal and uncreated, wise beyond all measure, immeasurably creative, — the One who made galaxies and atoms, the One whose voice thunders and whispers — makes Himself known to human beings. More than that, He has entered into a covenant with them. And this is of his own free choice.

God’s name, expressing His character and His deeds, is recognized as that of the king, unique in all the earth. When God delivered Israel at the Red Sea, they sang, “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11). Psalm 148 echoes this call to praise that name — His nature and His fame : “Let them praise the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven.”

The majesty of God is real, displayed in His creation and his unquestioned authority over all that he has made. His name is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe. His glory is not only seen in the stars but also felt in the succor he provides for all who love him.

The God of glory displays His strength not through power or might alone, but in unexpected ways. He stills the enemy and the avenger “through the mouths of infants and nursing babies.” His praise comes not from the great or learned, but from the mouths of the ignorant and weak.

When our Lord entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, crowds shouted “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Yet it wasn’t the religious elites who recognized Him — it was the children and the ordinary people. Matthew 21 tells us that the children shouted their hosannas to him as he healed in the temple. The chief priests were indignant, but Jesus answered them: “Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babies, you have prepared praise.” It is the humble and weak who recognize his glory.

From the mouths of babes, David lifts his eyes once again to the heavens. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, and the stars, which you have set in place — what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

Across millennia, people have wondered how we matter, in a universe so vast. We are only dust, fleeting, fragile. But God has created us to have dominion over all he has made. And he is unceasingly mindful of us.

David says, “You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands.” At the very beginning, God created man in his own image, to reflect himself and rule over his creation as his appointed authority.

But when man fell through disobedience to the will of God, his dominion was weakened. He misuses his authority. He corrupts his design. And yet we still bear the imprint of our Creator, a trace of our original dignity.

Yet Christ our Lord has regained man’s destiny. Hebrews 2 picks up on this psalm. God created man so that he might put all things under his feet. But now we do not yet see everything under his feet. But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone. And he is crowned with glory and honor.

Jesus, the Son of Man, resisted sin even unto blood, delighting in the will of God. Where Adam failed, He succeeded. In Him, God’s original purpose is restored. Those who trust in Him are forgiven, renewed, and crowned again with the glory that was lost.

In Christ, we are seated with Him in heavenly places. It is to man that God has subjected the world to come. We are the heirs of God’s kingdom, that we may finally surrender it all to him. We regain authority and purpose in life through our death with Christ on the cross. We will see its full blossoming when he comes in glory, and we are manifested with him.

This truth can change our lives. We are not accidents. We are not consumers. We are the image of God. Every human being — regardless of race, status, age, or background — bears the image of God. This makes us look at others differently.

Believing this truth, we begin to live for something beyond ourselves. Creation becomes our responsibility since it reflects its Creator and has been entrusted to us by Him. We value life because it is sacred. We worship in awe because our God is also our Father.

Let us pause in our busyness and consider the heavens. But let us also consider our own hearts. Let us live for the glory of God in whose image we are created. Let us follow Jesus Christ the Son of God, who is the captain and leader of man to salvation.

If we feel small, or life has crushed our sense of worth, it is worth remembering that it was God’s hands that knit us together in the womb. The same God who created the stars and calls them each by name cares for us, is mindful of us, and calls us to be reconciled with him, to know him, and to once again reflect the glory of his love and kindness, as the stars can never do.

Let us not only gaze at His marvelous creation, but also worship Him as his children, created and reborn in His image. Let our worship shape our lives in righteousness and godliness, giving glory to him for whose sake we exist.

“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth.” God bless.