Today’s Lectio Divina: Excerpts from Psalm 8. (MsgB)

I look up at Your macro-skies, dark and enormous, Your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do You bother with us? Why take a second look our way?

Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods, bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of Your handcrafted world, repeated to us Your Genesis-charge,
Made us lords of sheep and cattle, even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming, whales singing in the ocean deeps.

Strange, isn’t it, that we human beings, who have so much trouble down here keeping our lives from swerving off God’s road to life, actually have an irreversible call from that same God to steward, care for, and oversee the entirety of His creation.

Kinda like assigning the Three Stooges to be in charge of a dynamite factory, don’t you think?

I mean, what was God thinking when He chose advanced cavemen like us to handle His baggage on this flight? As I see it, either God is a complete dummy, or He sees something in us that we just can’t see.

Oh wait.

He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the One who sees behind the curtain and knows things that we just don’t know.

The Scriptures indicate that before ‘the Beginning’ that is recorded for us in the Book of Genesis, He was there. His Holy Word also states that after ‘the End’, God will still be on the throne, advancing His eternal purposes despite how poorly we human beings have done with our part of the bargain.

So King David, as he sat on the roof of his palace, gazing at the wonders of creation in the night sky, wrote a neat little ditty that helps us remember who God is and who we really are in the big picture of God.

Apparently it was just as hard for King David to hold onto these amazing truths as it is for us all these countless centuries later. And as I see it, the more we can pull out his old songbook that helped him remember who he was, the better off we’ll all be. Who knows? Maybe the more we hum along with David, singing God’s high praises, the more we can experience and celebrate this amazing position God has given us in His expansive creation.

Billy Graham, in one of his books, imagined that we human beings are destined to greatness on the other side. Graham believes that in eternity, each one of us will be assigned a portion of God’s expansive and endless universe. Each son or daughter of God stewarding rightly under the authority of Christ, the wonders of God’s universe.

Not bad for an old dude like me who has his hands full right now just keeping my cheese from falling off my cracker!

But whether it be a solar system God asks me to steward in the afterlife or just a small snack-shop down the road from the Holy Palace, I choose to agree with King David today. You and I are wondrously made. Created in His image. Set apart for His holy purposes, both now and forevermore. Let’s sing it out once again…

My prayer: In the beginning. Made in His image.

In the beginning. Full of His Light.

Set in His Garden, Promise Unending.

Destined to steward His Creation, His Life.

For Your name’s sake. Amen.

My questions to ponder: So if I’m made in the image of God and destined by my Creator to rule and reign in His universe for eternity, what should it look like for me in this lifetime to practice that high assignment on His behalf? If indeed, I’m an assigned steward of His creation, what responsibilities do I have down here in learning the fine art of godly stewardship?

So what is God speaking to you today as you ponder the Psalms?

Over a 50-week period, you and I will take a deeper look at The Psalms: God’s Songbook of Prayers. In order to keep all the blog sessions organized, we suggest you bookmark our Contemplating the Psalms home page for ease of use. Keep in mind that one of the best ways to explore the on-going applications of this blog series is to walk alongside a biblically-based, Christ-centered spiritual director who is familiar with how to make material like this part of your overall spiritual formation in God. Many of our directors in our Sustainable Faith-Heartland network are available to companion you in your journey with Jesus. Click here for more info.

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