WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Think back to the last time you appreciated the beauty of the natural world – whether that was through being outdoors or by watching a programme about it.

Majestic God
Some friends and I once spent several hours on Dartmoor on a surprisingly warm, clear November evening looking up at the sky. With very little light pollution, visibility was amazing – and the longer we stayed and gazed up, the better it got and the more constellations we were able to see.

I had a real insight into what David writes here; how majestic God is to have made all this beauty, how tiny and insignificant I seem in comparison, and how mind-blowingly wonderful it is that this God thinks of me and cares for me.

Responsibility to rule
The psalm speaks of the place God gives us in the order of creation: lower than the angels, but above everything else that he made. Along with that comes the responsibility to rule over it; and it’s more than fair to say we haven’t always done that well, either for the earth itself or what lives on it.

David surrounds his meditation with praise to the Lord for the majesty of his name – which suggests, perhaps, that our position in creation and the part we play in it should also be causes for praise.

Respond: This psalm also reminds us of Jesus – crowned with glory and honour for the part he played. Thank him for what he means to you.

http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-02-19