◄ What Does Psalm 8:3 Mean? ►

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

Psalm 8:3(ESV)

Verse of the Day

Whether you stand gazing at the deep midnight-blue sky where a multitude of shimmering diamond-studded stars are twinkling overhead or whether you pick up an authoritative journal that outlines the staggering dimensions and design of the Milky Way, the innumerable numbers of other gigantic galaxies or countless number of stars that are visible to the human eye, you can do little more than wonder about our astonishing Creator Who, at a moment before time began and in a place before space was created, spoke the world into being.

When David considered the work of the Creator's hand, he was filled with awe and wonder at the magnificence of God's holy name. When he looked up into the skies, he marvelled at the precision and beauty of God's handiwork. When David gazed up into the heavens and considered the work of His fingers, the moon and the stars which were set in place, he was overwhelmed to realise that God could be interested in man, and that He cared for His people.

When you contemplate the intricacies of nature, the complexities of design, and the unique position that humanity has been granted in the entire structure of the universe, not to mention the great salvation that is ours through trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour, the question surely must come to mind: "What is man that God is mindful of him and the son of man that the Creator of the universe cares for him?"

The innumerable stars in a boundless space, which extends far beyond the reaches of mortal eye and contains immeasurably more that man's limited imagination can consider, each have their appointed place in God's overall plan. Each heavenly orb has been awarded its specific purpose and place, and the Lord calls each heavenly body by its name.

How insignificant man seems in comparison to this vast universe, and how unimportant man appears in contrast with the creative glories that are displayed in God’s universe – and yet weak, fragile, pitiful, sinful man is the vehicle through whom the plans and purposes of God were conceived before the foundation of the earth in the eternal council chambers of heaven.

While the Lord set the sun and moon in place to govern the day and the night, it was man who was made in the image of God who was ordained to rule over the earth as God's appointed regent. God created man to have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, the cattle, and over all the earth and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Man was the one creature that was made in the image and likeness of his Creator to rule and reign the earth as regent under God's supreme authority. No wonder the psalmist in his song of praise to his Creator begins and ends this crescendo of adoration with the words:

"O LORD, our Lord. How majestic is Your name in all the earth!"

My Prayer

Loving Father, I stand amazed when I consider the insignificance of man in the context of the splendours of the extended universe, and yet, You loved me so much that You gave Your only begotten Son to pay the price for my sins. For this I give You eternal praise and glory. In Jesus' name, AMEN.