Day 50
More God Moments Ahead
Read your Bible: Psalm 8
Spotlight Verse:
Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!Psalm 8:9
You made it! I pray that 50 days of keeping your eyes open to the wonders of God has begun or deepened a lifelong habit for you.
In fact I hope your life is filled with God-moments: Moments when you’re rushing to an appointment, or braving the weekday commute, or walking out to get the paper…
…and you see
the sunrise
a sparrow
the stars
And you think: Wow. God made that. And God made me. And loves me!
About three thousand years ago someone else had one of those moments. A young shepherd was busy herding his father’s flocks. Probably thinking of shearing them and moving them to better pasture and watching for predators.
And then night fell. And he looked up at the stars.
And he said to himself: Wow. And he wrote:
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Psalm 8:1
David was having a sense of God as Wholly Other.
God, You are not like the other so-called gods: Gods of a family clan or of the land or of the sea. You are above all that. Yet… you reveal yourself to the smallest of us.
God and the Kids
From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. Psalm 8:2
I’ve quoted several of those Children’s Letters to God so why not a couple more? I love the way these kids have a sense of wonder:
Dear God, are you as big as the whole sky and as strong as the whole world? That’s a good thing. Very much, Dean.
Oh Lord, thank you for giving me my dad and mother. And their children. And dog and fish. Thank you for giving us the nice world to live in. And eyes to see it. And what we eat and brains to think. Thank you for ever-thing. Love, Maxine.68
That could be a psalm right there. Can you be that thankful?
Then David’s gaze moves from kids to the cosmos.
God and the Cosmos
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place… Psalm 8:3
Like we’ve done in this book, David considers the heavens. And he says as amazing as they are, they’re “the work of your fingers.”
The famous Bible translator (and my friend) Ron Allen told me the Hebrew word used there means “finger-play.” To explain the concept, Ron asked me if I remembered Rosey Grier.
“Of course!” I said “The amazing football player!”
Then Ron said, “Do you remember his hobby? It was needlepoint!” And it all came back to me: How, even during interviews, this muscle-bound NFL star would be working on dainty sewing projects. Ron explained, “That’s the image here. To the mighty, powerful God, the whole heavens are like a finger-craft.”
Who Am I?
But David says when he thinks of all this, he asks,
…what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:4
Maybe after this 50-day meditation on the attributes of God you too ask, “Who am I, that God should be mindful of me?”
“I have a bad past.”
“I am not very religious.”
“I have made so many mistakes.”
“Who am I that He should be mindful of me?”
I hope during this study you’ve learned why God cares. It’s not because of your religiosity or good deeds. It’s because, as I’ve emphasized, God is perfect in love.
God’s power is amazing. God’s knowledge and sovereignty and omnipresence too. But of all His wonders, there’s one that’s most amazing:
His love for you and me.
When I realize that, like David, I have to conclude:
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:9
May you be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God”
(Ephesians 3:19) all the days of your life.
PRAYER
Lord, thank you so much for Your love. I pray that all of us who have walked through this study would have an experience of worship that comes from the contrast:
God, You are so big. Yet — You choose to call my name and find me and save me. And hold me. May I live in awe of You today and surrender to Your love as You hold me.
