In God’s Thoughts
Psalm 8:1–9
What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:4
Psalm 8 begins with a celebration of the surpassing majesty of God, and this places men and women within a cosmic framework. It is a way of saying from the outset that we will never understand human beings unless we see them as God’s creatures and recognize that they have special responsibilities to their Creator.
The first thing that is asserted about man in Psalm 8 is his insignificance in the vast framework of creation. This grows out of the opening verses. For when the psalmist thinks of the glory of God exceeding the greatness of creation and thus thinks of creation, he is struck with how small man is by comparison.
I suppose this beautiful section of the psalm grew out of David’s memory of lying in the fields at night staring at the stars, in the days when he cared for his family’s sheep. Not many of us have this experience today. Most of us live where light from a city blocks out most of the stars’ light. But if you live in the country, you know how majestic the heavens really are. This was especially true for David. In the east the air is very clear, and, for those who look up at them, the stars seem to be almost overwhelming in number and to hang nearly within reach of the outstretched arm of the observer. “What is man that you are mindful of him?” asked David when he recalled the stars’ vast array.
Sometimes we experience this emotion too. True, we do not often have David’s opportunities to lie back and wonder at the heaven’s greatness. But we have our scientific knowledge and know, at least mathematically, much more than he. We know that the earth, which is vast enough, is only a small planet in a relatively small solar system toward the outer edge of one of the billions of solar systems in the universe. And we know something of the distances. We know that light coming to us from the most distant parts of the universe takes billions of years to get here.
How small we are in this vast cosmic setting! How astonishing that the God of this vast universe, the God who made it and orders it, should think of us and care for us!
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.