Crowned With Honor

Psalm 8:5-9

5For you made us only a little lower than God,

and you crowned us with glory and honor.

6You put us in charge of everything you made,

giving us authority over all things—

7the sheep and the cattle

and all the wild animals,

8the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,

and everything that swims the ocean currents.

9O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!

Two men looked out into space. One said, “Astronomically speaking, man is insignificant.” The other said, “Astronomically speaking, man is the astronomer.”

Both were correct. The first half of Psalm 8 emphasizes the greatness of the Creator and the wonder that he cares for us, who seem insignificant by comparison. The second half puts the spotlight on us as “astronomers,” that is, as those who watch over God’s creation.

If we look closely at Psalm 8, we will notice that we are not the subject; God is. He has bestowed authority on us, placing us in charge of creation to care for it (see Genesis 1:26; 2:15). God is the creator of this planet; we are the caretakers. Just as God cares for us, so we have the privilege of caring for the other wonders he has crafted. What an honor to be God’s representative on earth!

This is my Father’s world:

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—

His hand the wonders wrought.

MALTBIE BABCOCK

A Word on Words

Verse 5 may throw you if you are used to the King James Version, which reads that God made us “a little lower than the angels.” The Hebrew word here is elohim, which can refer to either heavenly beings or God himself.

Bible Networking

God has placed us in charge of all God’s creation, but see James 3:7-8 for one thing we all have trouble controlling.

Notable Quotable

“The age of the telescope was the age of the microscope. There are as many worlds of wonder which are too minute for our vision as there are too great for our understanding.”

F. B. MEYER