“You have set Your glory above the heavens”–Psalm 8:1
My Dear Ones in Christ Jesus,
One brilliantly starry night in ancient Jerusalem, David, the greatest king of Israel, looked up and became overwhelmed with the reality of his own insignificance. We know this happened because he tells us this very thing in Psalm 8:
“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?” (vv. 3-4).
I suspect that we have all experienced something like this, maybe on a number of occasions. Into everyone’s life comes those moments when we get a fleeting (and quite disturbing!) glimpse of how microscopically small we actually are in comparison to the vastness of outer space. The same thing might happen to us as we stand on the shore overlooking the ocean, or perhaps atop a high mountain as we gaze down far below. Such experiences trigger many thoughts in our minds, not the least being how little our lives must matter.
When I was a young boy, my Dad would often take me to Birmingham’s Legion Field to see our beloved crimson elephants play football. I remember how I would look out over the seventy-thousand souls filling the stands and wonder how my God and Father could possibly have any concern about me at all. And then, my mind would travel a little further away to the great city of Birmingham itself, with its many tall buildings (they seemed huge back then!), steel factories, and large neighborhoods. How could my life matter at all? How could I not get lost in such a massive crowd? How could God hear my prayers, or even be the least bit bothered with the details of my life? These were the biggest questions challenging my faith in Christ.
Since those days long ago, the world’s population has more than doubled (from 3.5 billion in 1968 to 7.8 billion today)! Glancing up at the stars seems to illustrate the vast number of human beings alive at any given moment. How could God be “mindful” of me and even “care” for me? So many people! So many events taking place each second! How could we matter at all?
If this has been your experience, then take heart. David himself was well-acquainted with this rather sick feeling prompted by the realization of his personal finitude.
However, the medicine our hearts really need at such moments is not the ‘snake oil’ of a more robust self-esteem or self-confidence. Rather, it is a much bigger vision of the Maker of the stars Himself that will cure our souls!
David puts it this way in the opening words of the Psalm:
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”
The Lord’s “name” represents the fullness of His Being. The word “majestic” sets forth the limitless bounds of His glory, power, and wisdom! These simple words, human tools for communication, are stretched even beyond their limits by the Being they are attempting to describe! That is to say, that even the most exalted human speech cannot sufficiently set forth the greatness of our God and Father! “Majestic” will have to suffice for now!
As David would finally conclude, it is because our God is “majestic” that He is “mindful” of you and me, and that He “cares” for each of us! His loving-mindfulness of each and every one of us is “majestic”! His loving-care for each and every one of us is also “majestic”! Hallelujah!
If you would permit me to do a little theological speculating, here’s how I would apply this to us today, on this new Monday:
Because our God and Father is “majestic,”
He contemplates and cares for you as if you were the only human being alive.
He loves each of us as if He had only one sinner to love and redeem.
He guides and protects each of us as if He had only one frail little human being to watch over.
He hears our individual prayers as if ours is the only voice crying out to Him in the whole universe.
Because He is “majestic,” every redeemed sinner can say, “My Father in heaven loves me!”
Again, we want to know how this could be true. After all, there are multiplied millions of Christians in the world this very moment, calling to Him in prayer, in need, in danger, and fully dependent upon Him for everything.
The answer again is enclosed in this word “majestic.” It is no coincidence that this word frames both sides of this wonderful Psalm (v. 1 and v. 9). Perhaps this is the one word that should frame the time between our rising in the morning and our lying down at night! Our God and Father is awesome in majesty! He is majestically omnipresent, majestically omnipotent, majestically omniscient, and majestically omni-benevolent! And in that majestic awesomeness we find our consolation for today and every day!
Beloved ones, He does care for you! He does know your name! He does hear your prayers! And He has you in His great “majestic” hands, and He will never let you go!
I love you all with all my heart,
Mike
PS: Next up is Psalm 19 for Monday January 24.