Reading: … the Creator of heaven and earth. (Apostles’ Creed); Psalm 8
A Psalm of David.
1 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?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] 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!
Reflection: There are texts with which, from the first time you read them, you connect on a deeper level. You form a relationship with them, like with a person – a relationship that develops, grows, and deepens. Psalm 8 is one of those texts for me. At first, the third verse fascinated me. The mouths of children and infants glorify God. Those who, in themselves, do not have great power, ultimately triumph. Such encouragement was more than precious for our small post-war church.
Then came a period in my life where verse 5 became significant. The more I understood God’s perfection and holiness, the more I discovered the depth of my imperfection and sinfulness. Such discoveries usually happened after feeling the sublime urge to do great and important things for God and the Kingdom, ending in miserable failure, a fiasco, or my personal moral downfall. After my Heavenly Father lifted me up and renewed me – experiencing such undeserved love – I meditated on the verse, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
The third phase came when I started to ‘stand on my feet’ in my spiritual journey. Then I stopped ‘beating myself up’ over my failures and began to understand that there is more to the Christian life than ‘sin menagement’ as my favorite author Dallas Willard described it in the book The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (1998). There I read something like, the Bible is not a book of rules that prevents us from getting into trouble with God. Rather, it is the story of God’s plan for the redemption of his Creation, which is managed by his son Jesus Christ. In fact, Christ is not only the one who executes the plan… he is the plan. Then I found my role as one of Christ’s partners in implementing this plan. Verse 6 spoke about my purpose, You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Now, as I come to the end of this text, I see that I have said nothing about God, the Creator of heaven and earth. I’m not worried because Psalm 8 holds many secrets. Hold on, and tomorrow we will continue to uncover them.
Prayer: Father, thank you for your creative wisdom and power. In you, the whole universe holds together…