Psalm Meditation 1025
Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
February 9, 2020

Psalm 8
1 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
(NRSV)

Sometimes we forget how wonderful God is and we need a psalmist or other poet to remind us how majestic God is. Since humans are adaptable we get used to the conditions around us and we see them as normal. When we are exposed to wealth we begin to view our condition as normal and wonder why all these other people don’t live in the same style we live. When we are exposed to God we come to see God’s presence as normal and get so used to God being around we forget how majestic and wonderful God is.

A good thing about having new people in a group is their ability to see what we have gotten used to in our area. Whether it is something that has faded so slowly that we have gotten used to the decay or something/someone who has retained the glory and majesty that drew us in at first we need to be reminded from time to time.

A fresh set of eyes helps us see the reality around us. In the case of God and the psalmists we are reminded of the extremes of God’s presence. God is both distant and judgmental, as well as glorious and majestic. We do well to remember that when we get too chummy. God is also a very present help in time of need. We need to remember that when we allow ourselves to be intimidated by the glory and majesty of God.

February 3, 2020
LCM