“When I consider Your heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him? And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels and have crowned him with glory and honor. . .O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your Name in all the earth.”
Psalm 8:3-5, 9
Quiet reflection on this will calm the mind and fill the heart with joyful praise.
The ancient Hebrews had an advantage over us when it came to worship. Why or how is that? Simply because they knew nothing of satellites, the Hubble telescope, space exploration, etc.; they simply knew God was/is great and worthy of our worship.
Think of it:
Although they already called the star groups by modern-day names (Job 9:9; 38:31-32), they knew nothing about various planets, galaxies, universes, star clusters, black holes, etc.; they simply knew those were “the work of God’s fingers, placed there by His Grand Design” (Ps. 8:3).
Likewise, they didn’t know our Creator placed the sun the perfect distance of 93,000,000 miles from the earth. . .or hung the moon in space to reflect the sun’s glory and influence earth’s tidal actions. . .or tilted our globe at just the right angle on its axis and rotated it at just the right speed to sustain life and maintain gravity.
No, they didn’t know.
But, they did know God did it. And, that’s why they cried “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (Heb. ‘addiyr’—‘powerful, large, glorious, worthy, magnificent, majestic, etc.’) is Your Name in all the earth!” And, we’d do well to do the same today, even though others will frown or mock at such “politically incorrect” expressions.
Dear Pilgrim, our Great God knew exactly what He was doing when He created the heavens and the earth. He knew what it’d take for two hydrogen molecules to bond to one oxygen molecule to create water; He also knew how to design photosynthesis so plants could absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen for us to breath.
He knew birds needed feathers to fly and fish needed fins to swim. He knew tall trees needed deep roots to weather the storms and bees needed special collectors on their legs to gather nectar so they could make honey.
And, He knew Adam and Eve would sin and we’d be in need of a Savior. That’s why He covered their nakedness with “coats of skin” (Gen. 3:21), which involved the “shedding of blood, without which there is no remission (Grk. ‘aphesis’—‘forgiveness, pardon, deliverance, freedom from, etc.’) of sin” (Heb. 9:22).
Stop right now, dear Pilgrim, and worship the Lord. Cry out to Him, as David did, and say “Who am I, Lord, that You are mindful of me and have chosen to visit/indwell us through Your Holy Spirit?” Then, quietly reflect on the implications of this as you recommit your life to Him to be used however He sees fit.
By Tom Smith Morning Manna Dated October 2, 2009
