Bible Reading: Psalm 8:1-9
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against 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 mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
A Reflection
I spent a lot of my formative years in agriculture, mainly with livestock rather than arable, but in the limited experience I had of ploughing a field I remember one thing. To plough in a straight line you need to keep your eye on the destination.
When we go through difficult times, as we all have, and when the difficult times drag on for months and months, as they have done, I am sure there have been times when we have all taken our eyes off God and focussed on ourselves and the problems that we face. The problem is that when we do this we are likely to end up in a ditch!
King David, who wrote Psalm 8, faced many difficulties in his life, some of his own making, some from invading nations and others from within his own family. In these situations David learnt to turn his eyes away from his problems and focus on his God who reigns in majesty and glory. From this perspective he could say ‘What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?’
When we take our eyes off ourselves and look to the glory of the heavens we are confronted with a paradox. On the one hand this majestic God reigns supreme in glory and majesty while, on the other hand, he is mindful of each one of us and he cares for us.
More than that, though, he crowns each of us with glory and honour and gives us a role and purpose in life, to care for the world he created. So, let us fix our eyes on Jesus so that we plough a straight furrow and avoid falling into a ditch.
A Prayer
God of glory and majesty, help me to keep my eyes fixed on you as I navigate my way through the life you have given to me.
Amen
O Lord our God, how majestic is your name.
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