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PSALM 8
Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!You have set your glory
in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Majestic: very beautiful, dignified and impressive.
What does majestic mean? The dictionary definition said very beautiful, dignified, and impressive. I think of a mountain like Mount Rainier in Washington state as being one of many mountains that is majestic. Also, royalty and much of the pomp and beauty surrounding it, is also majestic with the beautiful jewels, tradition, music and all that comes with the package. (I don’t count what we know of their personal lives.)
How does that translate to God’s majesty?
In this Psalm, we see the majesty of God. His majesty is also shown through His creation and the people He has created. But how? Take some time to think about God and His beauty in character. Since we don’t know what God looks like, we go by His character when we think of HIs beauty. But then, with your friends, it is more their personality that you love, not their looks, isn’t it? With God, there are no down sides to His personality. He is not fake in any way. He is morally pure and straight.
How does His majesty show itself in creation?
His creation shows His glory, beauty, impressiveness, and dignity.. In fact, it is one way God reveals to the world that He exists. It doesn’t fill in all the gaps and answer all the questions about God, but creation shows that there is someone bigger than we are who created the world and all that is in it. Think of sunrises and sunsets, waterfalls, mountains, flowers and plants…and on and on. Think of all the beauty and impressiveness you see in nature. All of that brings glory to God since He created it.
How do humans show God’s majesty?
We are made in the image of God. To the degree that we are connected to Him and Christians are “in Christ.” That is pretty connected. As such, we show His glory and majesty to the world around us. Humans were created to show God’s glory to the world. The following is just a piece of a magnificent section from Colossians. It speaks of God’s pre-eminence and magnificence as well as why we humans were created–to bring glory to God!
…giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:12-16 ESV
As we live out the our calling to the world around us, we bring glory to God by living in relationship to Him, by living out our lives in worship to Him alone and in community with other Believers. We also give Him glory as we bear fruit of what the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives. He is working to change and renew us daily, to develop the Fruit of the Spirit in us and to give us eyes to see the world of those in need around us as well, using the gifts He has given us.