Psalm 8 (NRSV)
Read Psalm 8 on biblegateway.com
Verse 1O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Verse 2Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
Verse 3When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
Verse 4what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Verse 5Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
Verse 6You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
Verse 7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
Verse 8the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
Verse 9O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Devotion
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It is one thing to be surrounded by beauty and gift; it is another to recognize it and speak it. I shall never forget trekking into a deep valley of the Black Hills with my own campus pastor and our leadership team at night. We lay on blankets to watch the Milky Way rise over the ridge. Pastor Dick Borrud rehearsed a list of astonishing statistics about the numbers and distances of stars in the galaxy—and then he closed worship reciting this psalm. When I consider your heavens, who am I that you care for me?
One Easter morning in our church, the echoes of the trumpet and tympani in "Jesus Christ Has Risen Today" were barely fading when the voice of a child said, "Wow!" Before we claim dominion—which means responsibility as much as power—in the world, we do well to hear how this psalm humbles us—with the wonders of the heavens, the voices of children and the power of God, who holds us all.
Prayer
God, humble us that our power be the power of trust, awe and love. Amen.