Psalm 8:5-9
Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Sometimes we think too highly of ourselves, and sometimes too lowly. Some people imagine human ingenuity and scientific discovery to be limitless, as though we mortals could erect a new tower of Babel and claim ultimate supremacy over a godless world. Others reduce humanity to nothing more than evolved primates whose intelligence serves only to pollute and pillage the natural world from which we emerged. Neither view is true, and neither is Biblical. In similar ways, many people hold distorted images of their own lives, either struggling with low self-worth or boasting arrogantly in their prowess. These are also traps of false belief.
The truth is, God created us with honor and authority, and yet He reminds us that we can never rival His power and majesty. David expressed, in these astonishing words of poetry, what theologians call Biblical anthropology, scriptural truth about who we humans are. We learn here that God created us as He desires, and we cannot remake ourselves into another image. We also see that God’s design of human life is good, even glorious and honorable. God loves us and made us to be strong, beautiful and virtuous. He even granted us authority over his world, not so we can rule in his place, but so we can care for God’s world and use its resources to accomplish good things for the glory of our Creator. We should celebrate being created in God’s own image and the honor He bestows on us, while also humbling ourselves before God, whose “majestic name fills the earth!”
So, don’t fall into the trap of thinking your life is meaningless or that you are somehow unworthy. Our majestic Lord made you on purpose, shaping you into the wonderful person He wants you to be. You are capable of great things, and above all, you can know and love God who first loved you. Then again, don’t fall for the lie that you can supplant God as ruler of the world or of your own destiny. God’s name is majestic in all the earth, not yours. He is the ultimate authority, even over you. We need to develop in our hearts the right balance between respect for the honor God has built into each human life with humility before our Lord, who alone is worthy of everlasting praise and glory.
Father, You are mighty and majestic. You created all things, including me. Thank You for how You made me and for all the good You have called me to do. Help me to serve You, to care for Your world and to love others, all in the name of Jesus my Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Mike Mirakian
