In looking at Psalm 8, we have seen how glorious is the Lord. We have seen how he has shared a measure of that glory with us His prized creation. Today we see how this glorious God relates to this sometimes inglorious creation.
This psalm speaks to the Fragility of Man.
When I look at 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,
and the son of man that you care for him?
The raw wonder of God in the voice of the shepherd
is loudest in this stanza. Perhaps on starry night David is looking up and
trying to comprehend the wonder of the universe and then realizes that God was
even greater. He tries to say this by stating that God created everything not
by his hands, but by his fingers. And yet, quickly returns to
earth and sees that the great heavenly bodies that God was able to create with
just His fingers far outweigh mere mankind who is bouncing around on one of
these heavenly bodies. David could not have known just how tiny of a speck our
earth and our existence in the universe really is.
The glorious God is caring.
Yet,
he captures very well that the idea is marvelous that God who is greater than
all in existence, which makes human beings look puny in whatever formula of
comparison you can come up with, cares for us puny beings. The poetry slips
right off the tongue.
What is man that
you are mindful of him,
and the son of
man that you care for him?
“The Son of Man” is a phrase that
literally translates “son of Adam.” Simply put, it is a human being. But David
did not just say “a human being.” He chose a phrase that was picturesque and
descriptive which showed the nature of human beings. We are the descendants of a created being, not even
the created being itself. Once against illustrating the gulf between us and
God. In
addition, this phrase came to be a royal title.
The Gap Bridged
By using this phrase David is asserting
several claims and thereby bridging the gap between God and man: (1) he is royalty, (2) this Psalm is not just a praise of God,
but is meant to be understood that God cares for people personally, (3) and that God cares for him (David) personally. It makes the Psalm very intimate.
The Gap Further Bridged
The good news is that God did not just permit the divide between His glory and His creation to remain permanent. He met us on our terms. He walked with Adam in the garden, spoke to Moses through the bush, met Israel at the Temple and ministered to Elijah in the cave. For
Christians this phrase would take on a whole new meaning as it was understood
in the light of the Messiah, the Son of Man who was also the Son of God. This
mixture of imagery is evident in Philippians 2:6-11.
Have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he
was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found
in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the
earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil 2:6-11 ESV
The glorious One set aside His glory temporarily to walk among us and to begin the process of transferring that glory to us. He demonstrated his Amazing Love by coming to this earth and offering Himself on our behalf.
Wherever you are in life,
Whatever you are going through,
Trust that God already sees it,
Trust that God already knows it,
Trust that God already has plans
to walk you through it.
to walk you through it.
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