For thousands of years prior to electricity people used the sun to navigate by day, and fire and oil lamps by night. What this meant is that people spent a lot more time outdoors, looking up into the sky and contemplating the wonders of the universe. Now we barely remember there is even a universe.
We don’t even look at each other anymore. We look down at our phones and devices. What this means is that we forget how small we are in the universe as our problems seem so huge.
This psalm is one of David looking to the glory of the night skies and remembering how small he is in comparison (Ps 2:3; HCSB):
“When I observe your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You set in place,
what is man that you remember him,
the son of man that you look after him?
You made him little less than God
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You made him lord over the works of your hands;
You put everything under his feet.“
David contemplates the mysteries that God would even choose man and gave him the honor to take care of His creation. David is amazed at the things God has done.
This verse is also used in Heb 2 (NIV) as a prophetic verse foreshadowing Jesus.
5 For He has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about. 6 But one has somewhere testified:
What is man that You remember him,
or the son of man that You care for him?
7 You made him lower than the angels
for a short time;
You crowned him with glory and honor
8 and subjected everything under his feet.
For in subjecting everything to him, He left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. 9 But we do see Jesus—made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace He might taste death for everyone—crowned with glory and honor because of His suffering in death.
We also see other verses from Psalm 8 in the New Testament.
- Verse 2 is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 21:16 in reference to children praising him in the temple.
- Verse 6 is quoted in 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22
When we read the news and get discouraged, when we find strife and discord in our own familial relationships, when we wonder where God is in the wee hours of the night, look up. Get outside away from the city lights and look up. Remember and contemplate on the universe.
There is a much bigger story.
