Reflecting on Psalm 8 and More
I try to find time each morning to simply worship God before laying my supplications before Him. I've always had certain passages I have turned to as aids, but I decided I need to refresh and expand my worship time.
This morning, I decided to begin with a list of the names of God. That began because last night I jotted down some thoughts about who God is, about who Jesus is, and the contrasts that exist in the word pictures of Scripture.
He is the King who is also the Servant
He is the Shepherd who is also the Lamb
He is the Creator who took on the created, becoming a man
He is the Judge who is also the Mediator
He is the Judge who is also the Friend
He is the Beginning and the End
He is the Righteousness who became Sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21)
I'm sure you can think of more contrasts than I came up with, and I would love to hear them.
So I began this morning looking up the definition and references given in the Rose Book of Bible Charts, Maps and Time Lines for Adonai. I ended up spending quite a bit of time on Psalm 8, which I memorized years ago in the King James Version. Since then I have moved from using the KJV to the NIV and now to the ESV, but it is often edifying to compare the translations.
Psalm 8 is so definitely a psalm of praise to our majestic great God and Lord, as we see from the very first verse:
O Lord, our lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
What is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:1-4 (ESV)
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
I stand in awe as I ask, with the psalmist, "What is man—who am I—that this great and glorious God of all creation should look on me in love and care, in mindfulness?"
I love Ryrie's commentary on Psalm 8:2-3: "From nursing babies to heavenly bodies, God is Lord of all." As I thought about that, I had to write in my journal that all of God's creation gives praise to Him, whether aware of it or not. And there are many human beings who don't want to give praise to God, but the very complexities of our bodies shout praises to God. The miracle of birth always conjures up a certain wonder, whether credit is give to God or not. Yet He is the one who works that miracle.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:14
As I continued to meditate, I thought about those babies mentioned in Psalm 8:2, of their total helplessness. They are such a picture of us spiritually, for we are totally helpless and in need of the Lord's deliverance, provision and sustenance. A baby depends on parents for food and warmth and shelter. The difference is that God is able to provide perfectly for His own while we are imperfect parents.
Our spiritual food is the Word of God. As babies, we need more mature Christians to spoon feed us from the Word because we have not yet learned how to study and feed ourselves. But God even provides those people, be they pastors or teachers or friends or parents.
Like newborn infants,
long for the pure spiritual milk,
that by it you may grow up into salvation
1 Peter 2:2
I fed you with milk, not solid food
for you were not ready for it.
1 Corinthians 3:2
Obviously, just like physical babies, there comes a time when we need more than pure milk, as the above verse indicates. But the difference spiritually is the responsibility we have to take for ourselves in moving on to solid food.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you again
the basic principles of the oracles of God.
You need milk, not solid food,
for everyone who lives on milk
is unskilled in the word of righteousness
since he is a child.
But solid food is for the mature,
for those who have their powers of discernment trained
by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:12-14
May we all revel in the magnificence of our God who provides for us. May we seek to grow and seek the solid food of the Word of God, thereby acquiring the discernment needed to live our lives to the glory of God.
Comments
Post a Comment