We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk.
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Psalm 8
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.
3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
7 the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Devotional Thought:
In the past week I have begun re-watching a tv show called, ‘The Long Way Round’, which documents a 31,000km motorcycle journey from London to New York City. Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman, actors and motorcycle enthusiasts, wanted to see if it would be possible for them to ride motorcycles around the world. They spent four months planning and training for the trip, hired a support staff to follow them, and mapped out the epic journey.
From urban centres like Prague, to vast open spaces in the wilderness of Mongolia, the landscapes and peoples they met changed with each day. Along the way, they recorded a video diary to document what they were feeling and thinking as they experienced these new places and peoples. In several of these videos, Ewan would comment on how vast the landscape was and how small he felt in the midst of it.
I imagine the psalmist who penned Psalm 8 felt a similar way to Ewan. I imagine them looking into the night sky, staring into the vastness of space, and feeling an overwhelming sense of mortality. In this moment of quiet reflection, the psalmist paused. Why me? Why us? Why human beings? What are we doing here? Why do you care to relate to us? Compared to all I can see, I am so small and insignificant. Why do I matter?
Have you ever felt this way? Have you ever peered into the night sky and thought, why am I here; do I even matter? This is a common experience for human beings. When we take time to consider our place in the cosmos, it can lead us to despair. But thanks be to God, the psalmist continued: you have crowned us with glory and honour. We are reminded that we do matter. To be crowned with glory and honour is a way of saying we have been made in God’s image; we have been made to participate in the life of God, to be in relationship with Him.
Even though at times we may feel small and insignificant, like Ewan did in the Mongolian plains, Psalm 8 reminds us that we are image-bearers of God in creation. Our identity and purpose are rooted in God and revealed in Christ. I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds pretty significant.
Prayer:
Holy God, Creator of all things, visible and invisible, we give you thanks today for the life you have given us. Thank you for choosing to share your life with human beings like us, forming us in your image, and giving us purpose and significance. Make yourself known to us this day, and every day, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Rev. Joseph Wood, PhD
Dean of Students and Lecturer in Theology and Church History