HUMBLE DIGNITY
Opening Prayer
You have reasons to praise God today. List them.
Read Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
At the heart of this psalm is a paradox: human beings are dust, with incredible honor.David must have spent many nights tending sheep, and looking up, saw the stars (3). We know now that there are trillions more he couldn’t even see. “What is man?” he asks. Earth is just one of the works of God’s fingertips, set in its place (3). And we are tiny, frail creatures, created along with others (7,8), walking on a pale blue dot of a planet and gone in the blink of an eye.
But we have been given incredible significance. We are made in the image of God; exalted above the rest of creation (5). And part of his image in us is that we rule under him (6). Creation is not under our feet so that we can flatten or oppress it. God is over all creation (1,3), but has entrusted it to us and placed it under our care, as we are under God’s care.
Because our significance is also that the creator of the galaxies is mindful of us (4). And when God is mindful or remembers his people in the Bible, that always involves him moving towards them with compassion (Exod. 2:24,25). And his care is always active. No wonder the psalm is bookended with praise (1,9).
Apply
How do you view yourself? Is it the same way God views you? Write down some of God’s words about you.
Closing prayer
I praise You, God, for Your greatness, for Your grace towards me, and for the humble dignity You have given me.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.