For the past few months, our lives and society seem to have been spinning out of control. Disease and death surround us, jobs have been lost, family life disrupted, churches closed and social order threatened. It has gotten to where we are almost afraid to watch the news! Such events as this serve to remind us that we humans are not in control of the world anyway. Psalm 8 is a hymn extolling the majesty of God and his Lordship over all the Universe.
My wife and I live on the open plains and from the front lawn of my country home, I have often stood under a sky full of stars and quoted Psalm 8:3-4. We feel so small and helpless when we realize how vast is God’s creation, and how matchless his power. Why should he even bother with us? But he chooses to love us and wants a relationship with us!
Not only that, but Psalm 8:6 says he created us to rule over all he had made (see Gen. 1:28). Why then does it feel like we have no control over anything? Genesis 3 tells us that our first parents chose to obey Satan instead of the Lord. By doing so, they surrendered their right to rule to the devil, and he has been bringing chaos, disease and death to us ever since.
Psalm 8 helps me to remember that Jehovah is the true ruler of the Universe, and that he will one day judge the world and set things right. He remains our refuge and stronghold when everything around us seems out of control.
“Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10, NIV)
Jim Jensen, Prophetstown, Ill.
Extended Scripture: Psalm 8–10
