Wednesday 8th January
Read Psalm 8
“Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (NIVUK)
This is a psalm that may come to mind regularly as you look at the beauty and complexity of this world and reflect on what you are here for. God’s glory is to be found everywhere (heavens and earth) and he is king (majestic) over all, there is only one Lord. Verse 2 introduces the weak, infants and children, God works through the weakest and insignificant of His creation to confound His enemies. The next few verses mirror the ideas that float through our mind as we consider the vastness of the ‘heavens’, our place is seemingly insignificant in that picture and yet it seems that the Creator is constantly aware of us and cares for us. We are created as a being, a little lower than the angels, and given a position of honour (glory because I am created in God’s image), given the tasks (restatement of Genesis 1) to care for and enjoy what our Creator has made. We have a responsibility to ‘rule’ this created world on earth, to care for, protect and ‘tend’ the garden and all the creatures found there, animals, birds and aquatic life. What a responsibility, how easy is it to abuse rather than care and tend the garden. Stand in awe of the character of this King who is creator of all and who has blessed us (the weak infant) with the task of reflecting His character to the world we live in.
Geoff Hinch
