Tuesday July 28, 2020

Psalm 8

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!

It is our relationship with God, being made in his image, and nothing else that elevates our status over other creatures and the rest of creation. It is our relationship with God that governs our stewardship of the planet. He has crowned us with glory and honor and made us rulers over the works of his hands. We glorify God when we are good stewards and rule well over all creation. Consider for a second how vast the universe is. And yet God is mindful of us. He cares for us. He who hung the moon in the sky and put every star in its place. The Supreme Author of time itself has carved out an eternity of time for us. In Isaiah’s commissioning, we hear the voices of heaven singing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty. The whole earth is full of his glory.” If the whole of creation is full of God’s glory, then all of creation matters. All of creation is extremely valuable because it is full of the glory of God. Even the rocks cry out. The trees of the fields clap their hands. The sound of rushing waters and the children lift up their voices to sing God’s praise. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4).

Friends, our new life in Christ comes with an ever increasing glory that will last forever. Meaning we carry God’s presence with us and we can grow in allowing God’s presence to be what people associate with when they encounter us. We aren’t statues made in God’s image. The image of God must be activated and animated in us. By God’s grace, we must activate the image and bear the likeness of Christ. We can participate in the splendor and majesty of the King of Kings when we love the ones He loves in the same way He loves them. That’s what Paul has in mind when he says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). In your rising and in your lying down, in your coming and going, in your waiting and listening, in your running and being still, in all your thoughts and actions, whatever you do in life, do it for the glory of God. Do it so his name is lifted high. Do it so someone senses when you walk into the room there is more than just the two of you present.

“O Lord, may nothing dwell in my soul
But your pure love alone.
Till my every thought, word, and act be love.
Yes Lord, may your love posses me whole;
You’re my joy, my treasure, my crown!”
— John Wesley