Psalm 8:1-8

O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens. 
Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.

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?

 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor. 
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet, 
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field, 
the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

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

In this Psalm, King David bursts forth in praise of God’s majesty, His majestic name!

Something majestic makes us stop and say, Wow! It is something that makes us seem small in comparison.

I picture King David looking up into the night sky and contemplating the stars and the moon. Contemplating the God who spoke the world into existence and standing in amazement at all the celestial beings, those seen and not seen. I suppose he felt his smallness and God’s greatness, and it caused him to feel the glory due God’s name. It led him to worship the God of creation. The God who not only made the celestial beings, but made man. And him!

He stands in awe and wonder, and he questions why in the world the God who is so great is mindful of us. Not only that, He has given man a place above the rest of the created order. David, who knows his smallness in comparison to God and feels it in the midst of the created order, knows that man, who is made in God’s image, is inexplicably put above all of the rest of creation. It is a powerful Psalm.

All of this got me contemplating, too. As I stand in my home and look out over the frozen, snow and ice-covered ground before me, I am struck by the brightness of the sun when it peeks out. But more than that, I’m struck by the power of the sun when it appears! But even more than that, I’m struck by the thought of the powerful, majestic God who put it in the cosmos! 

You see, even though our temps are absolutely frigid, we’ve, figuratively speaking, been living in a freezer for almost a week! I’ve noticed how amazing the shining sun truly is. When it is bright and sunny, no matter the temperature, the sun starts melting and drying up the ice and snow on the roads and trees. It has a majestic power.

Thinking about this brought King David’s words to mind. It has caused me to stop and think: “Wow!” I have felt small and helpless in comparison. Especially when I’ve been futilely trying to clean off our sidewalks and driveway day after day, it’s made me think about the fact that light was the first thing God created and that He was mindful of man (me) before a single man ever existed. He knew how desperately we’d need the sun for life to exist.

It has caused me to worship the One who created all things and spoke the world into existence. The One who said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen 1:3). 

So as I praise and worship the only One who is worthy of worship, I know I am not alone. I hear King David’s words in my mind, but not just his. As I look outside, I see tiny blades of grass poking out of the frozen ground, and I can hear them shout this song of praise with me…
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
If you’re still, maybe you can hear it too.