Sunday Devotional: Psalm 8:3-4*

³ When I see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have established–⁴ What is mankind that You remember him, or the son of man that You seek him out?

This week in church, our pastor is preaching on Psalm 8, so in preparation for that, and for your edification, I thought I would pull a few verses from that psalm for our contemplation this morning.

This psalm is credited to David, and you can almost picture him as a shepherd, sitting under a night sky while his flock grazes on the hillside, contemplating the vastness of the universe. His mind is drawn to consider the whole of creation, and the supreme glory of the One whose hands had caused it all to come into being. And then his mind turns to consider the place of men–and perhaps himself–in the grand scheme of all that God has made.

Verses 1 and 2 of the psalm say that God has displayed His glory across the universe, from the brightest star to the suckling child, to silence the enemies of God. When the glory of God is truly comprehended by men, there should be no other reaction than the cessation of all rebellious speech and action. We see echoes of this in Romans 1, where Paul says that God has made Himself known throughout all creation, so no-one is without excuse.

In verse 3, David makes this more personal. He looks at the heavens, the moon and the countless stars, all of which have their place in the universe because God set them there, and is in awe. Notice that the heavens are the work of God’s “fingers.” Given the poetic nature of the psalms, we should understand David to be speaking symbolically here. He is saying that the seemingly infinite universe, the broad expanse of the sky, populated with innumerable stars, is the work of the fingers of God. Our Lord is so much greater than even the universe, He was able to bring it into existence like a child might fashion a piece of clay in his small fingers.

In light of this, what is man? If the universe is the creation of the fingers of God, and man is just a speck in terms of the universe–how must mankind look to God! Surely such an insignificantly small creature such as the human being can’t be of interest to the supreme Lord of the universe who so easily creates on such a large scale. Why should He remember, or be mindful (both possible renderings of the Hebrew verb zqr** in this context) of him? Why would He be bothered to “seek out” the “son of man”?

The Hebrew verb pqd is often used with the meaning “to search for” something. Within the idea of “searching for” something is the concept of care and concern, especially when the object of one’s search is a person. I think the idea here is that of God being concerned about people to the point that He seeks after them and takes an interest in their concerns. Despite the fact they are no more than dust in comparison to Him.

In this verse, it’s possible the term “son of man” means nothing more than another way of speaking of humans. This is poetry, after all, and David might simply be restating the previous thought with slightly different language: “What is man than you remember him?/ What is man that you seek him out?” A possibility that I lean toward is that David might be using “son of man” as a term of personal reference–in other words, instead of saying “me.” Jesus used this phrase similarly in, for example, Matthew 8:20 where he was clearly referring to himself (with possible Messianic overtones–but that’s a discussion for another time). So not only was David saying “what is man…?” but “who am I that you should care about me?”

The following verses answer this question: God made man “a little lower than God.” I think he’s pointing here to the fact that man was made in the image of God, and therefore holds a very special place in the whole vastness of creation. So, despite the fact that we are so insignificantly small compared to the rest of the universe, God made us and chose us as His special creation. To no other creature did He give His image. We are unique, and indeed, all of God’s plans and purposes for the universe revolve around mankind.

And not even all of mankind. Romans 8:28 tells us that God causes all things for the good of those who love Him–i.e., Christians. The church.

As you consider the glory of creation this week, whether in the smallest of creatures, or the infinitely large universe in which we dwell, consider the fact that the God who made all of it with his “fingers” remembers you. Even if you are not a Christian, He knows who you are. And if you are a believer, He loves you with a love that would cause Him to take flesh, enter into His own creation, and die to pay the penalty for your sin, that you might know Him.

Have a great week!

* The verse divisions are different in most printed Hebrew texts. If you’re following along in the Hebrew, it’s 8:4-5.

** Hebrew was originally written without vowels, and it’s common practice to write it this way, especially when speaking of root forms. Also, it’s easier to write Hebrew without the vowels!