God created the world for us to discover and rule with wisdom and care – and so that everything we see would turn our hearts to praise.
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?5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their 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!
I wonder if David had wandered outside on that still middle-eastern night, and gazed into a dark and crystalline sky – unmuted by electric lights or industrial pollution. I wonder if he thought, breathlessly, as we do sometimes, “What a beautiful world my God has made” – and started to pray… to sing.
It really is an incredible world – the handiwork of our incredible God. It’s a world which is ours to discover, enjoy, and care for, in worship of him. Something I loved learning is that many of those who undertook some of the first “formal” scientific endeavours – including those who studied the sun, moon, and stars – were Christians. Their worship of and belief in a God of reason, order, and purpose is precisely what drove their scientific enquiry. Because the universe was made by this kind of God, they expected to find rationality and order woven into the fabric of the universe. And they did!
Standing beneath the sparkling vastness of the night sky, gazing at what we now know are roaring, blazing balls of hydrogen light years away, we rightly ask with David, “What is man?” We feel tiny; insignificant in the face of such grandeur. And yet, God has bestowed an incredible privilege upon us. He made us to rule and discover this world. To name things and put them in order, as Adam did. He planted in us a thirst and curiosity to discover the intricacies of his world, which he has delighted to share with us and made discoverable by us.
He has given us hearts and minds which still gasp at a stunning night sky… which are quieted in wonder before the rising sun over a beach… which are fascinated by the world and its wonders. Because all of it points us to him. Science, rightly done, tunes our hearts to sing his praise.
As you live today, slow down and notice all the beautiful things that God has made, and the way they work… the earth’s rotation turning dark to light to dark again, the photosynthesis of the trees giving us re-oxygenated air, the life in your body sustained by beating heart, breathing lungs, and circulating blood. Remember that all was made and designed by our God. Enjoy them. Let these things turn your heart and voice upwards – in gratitude. In joy. In worship. And in thankful, earnest prayer. For he has placed us on his earth – now broken by sin, but redeemed by Jesus, who is coming back soon – to understand it, and rule it with wisdom and care.
Head: Read Hebrews 2:5-9. How does this enrich your reading of this psalm, in light of who Jesus is and what he’s done?
Heart: Memorise a verse or two of this psalm (or the whole thing, over a few days), for moments of meditation, stillness, and prayer today.
Hands: What’s one thing you could do today to care for this world God has made, and your fellow image-bearers who live in it?
Prayer: My Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! By your grace, lift my voice to join the symphony of creation today in worship of you, and you alone. I am so small, and sinful, but thank you that Jesus became a little lower than the angels, that I might be forgiven, and spend my days in praise of you. Amen.
A song to listen to: You Are The One (David Potter)
Bloss Wilson- Creek Road Presbyterian Church- Springfield
