Psalm 8:1-9
A Paradox of Our Christian Walk

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider 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,
the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

New International Version

This has long been one of my favorite psalms, because it rejoices in God's abundant love for us and captures a paradox of our Christian Walk. The psalmist recognized the infinite power and glory of the God who created everything, and likewise recognized that we are only a small speck in all that God created. Just think of all the psalmist didn't know at that time! No inkling of how intricately matter is constructed from molecular, atomic, and subatomic particles; no way of knowing that each twinkling star represents another solar system, many with planets, comets, and the like; no comprehension of the vastness of space and time in which God created the universe. When we assess our current understanding of the magnitude of the universe, even with as incomplete a knowledge as we recognize we have, we truly appear insignificant in the expanse of all that exists. Confronted with the complexity and beauty of all of creation, we truly appear completely ignorant and inept.

Yet, God loves us. God loves us with a love that does everything possible to repair and restore the relationship that God intended for us before sin and the Fall. God is willing to take us as we are and glorify us as the culmination of all that creation is to be! It is all here so that we can be with God, and God with us. Incredible!

God's love makes no sense to us. We know too well who we are, and we know that, given the choice, there are many times when we wouldn't want to be with ourselves! If God is so powerful and wise, why can't God get some worthy friends, some who are obedient and loving, not rebellious and sinful as we are?

Part of the answer to that question is that we are made in God's image. Another part is the undeserved love that God gives to us freely and abundantly. Still another part seems to be that we can choose to be more like God by letting God work within us.

This is the reality that leads us to this paradox of our Christian Walk. It is in our insignificance that God has placed us at the pinnacle of creation. Jesus taught us that those who would choose to lose their life for His sake would truly have life. Paul wrote that it is in his infirmities, and his obedience in his weakness, that God's strength is made perfect.

It still doesn't make sense from purely a human point of view, but when we reach for that little grain of faith that lets us accept that there is more than our human point of view, we will see so much that compels us to accept the psalmist's view of creation! How many times have you been soothed, uplifted, or touched by a bird's song, a rainbow's arc, or a butterfly's path? How many times have you felt hugged by a sunbeam or caressed by a breeze? How many times has nature encouraged you, challenged you, or awed you in such a way that you feel a little bit closer to God?

The psalmist, too, saw creation as full of opportunities for God to bless us. Of course, the key is not in how we see creation, but how we see ourselves, and how we humble ourselves before God.