Today’s Reading: Psalm 8 & 9
In today’s Psalm (8), the Psalmist is taking a journey in
his spirit to a far-away place… a place “above the heavens.” There, he senses
the majesty and glory of Yahweh, the God of Eternity.
In David’s day, the “majesty” of a king was represented
by the size or scope of his realm. If he ruled over a small town or city, his
majesty was minimal. But if he ruled over many cities or regions, his majesty
was considered great. How majestic was the king who ruled powerful nations. The
word “glory” was used to describe the grandeur of the ruler as measured by the
realm he reigned over. The king over a powerful nation was said to have great
“glory” or “grandeur.”
In this context, David is declaring the majesty and glory
of the Yahweh, his God. His reign and “majesty”
extend not simply to towns, or cities, or regions, or even nations. Yahweh’s
majesty (scope of His realm) extends to all the Earth. Thus, the Lord is high
above all nations and all kings or rulers. In fact, David goes on to say that
God’s glory (the grandeur of His kingdom) extends into and beyond the heavens
above the Earth. He rules over all of the seen and unseen realms and over all beings
in all of existence. As Buzz Lightyear would put it, God’s grandeur extends “to
infinity and beyond!”
The Lord has set His glory above the heavens. This means He is superior to all princes, rulers, governors, kings, presidents, and bodies
of people in the world. It also means He is superior to all of the unseen
beings of the spirit world (angels, cherubim, demons, etc.) Whereas, the glory of earthly monarchs is
confined to this lower world, and to meager divisions of it, the glory of God
not only fills the Earth, but Heaven too! There it is celebrated by thousands
and myriads of blessed angels. His
kingdom is so high that it is far higher than heaven, being infinite and
incomprehensible.
The Lord our God needs no kingdom or
realm to be majestic. He is majestic. He is glorious. But, for us finite human
beings to even grasp the majesty of God, we must use language and terminology
which is, by definition, insufficient to describe Him and His glory. Thus,
David draws a comparison to earthly kings and declares that God’s glory and
majesty is vastly superior to anything or anyone on our tiny planet.
So, how big is your problem today? Is
there something that you’re facing that is burdening your heart and weighing
you down? To you it may seem to be an especially big and difficult challenge or
problem. But if you put it into the context of your loving God’s majesty, how
big is it really? Remember, the size of
any problem is always measured by the agent doing the work. If you cast your
burden on Him, it is but a tiny speck to the One whose majesty and glory is
“above the heavens.” Let Him solve your “big” problem. He is majestic. He is
glorious. He can do it!
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