"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon, and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou are mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?"
Psalm 8:3-4
Part 3 – verses 3-4.
Yesterday: The Lord’s strength (8:2).
Today: The Lord’s Creation (8:3-4),
“God’s Finger Work” and Man’s Insignificance.
“I look at the heavens you made with your hands. I see the moon and the stars you created. And I wonder, ‘Why are people so important to you? Why do you even think about them? Why do you care so much about humans? Why do you even notice them?’” (Psalm 8:3-4, HSB[1]).
“When I consider thy heavens.”
Being an outdoorsman, the shepherd that David was, considering the heavens at night, was a frequent event for him. In the warm months, shepherds watched their flocks by night, and no doubt David spent many hours with his eyes fixed on the glory of the heavens. We need to notice here that it is “thy heavens” that we need to be considering. Man has no claims on God’s heavens. They belong to God.
“The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them” (Psalm 89:11).
“Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psalm 115:15-16).
“With the naked eye, one can see about 5,000 stars. With a four-inch telescope, one can see about 2 million stars. With a 200-inch mirror of a great observatory, one can see more than a billion stars. The universe is so big that if one were to travel at the speed of light, it would take 40 billion years to reach the edge of the universe. Considering the heavens makes us see the greatness of God”[2] (Guzik).
“The work of thy fingers.”
Another poet, James Weldon Johnson, had given us a wonderful word-picture of God’s “finger work” in the heavens when he wrote his negro sermon, “The Creation.”[3]
“Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,
And God rolled the light around in his hands
Until he made the sun;
And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun
God gathered it up in a shining ball
And flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
Then down between
The darkness and the light
He hurled the world;
And God said: That’s good!”
“Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands” (Psalm 102:25).
“The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained.”
It is our powerful Creator who put each of the stars in its place.
“Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:26).
Each heavenly body has been ordained to its course, and it does not veer from its “Creator appointed path.” It is because of their continual orderly grouping that navigators for eons have used the stars as their roadmaps to their destinations. And these have helped men to keep track of the seasons, which helps with their hunting, planting, and harvesting.
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so” (Genesis 1:14-15).
Sadly, sinful man has tarnished God’s purposes for His stars in the heavens. From early pagans on, humans have attributed powers to the stars that they do not possess. Many people believe that the stars have a direct influence over their lives, for good or evil. How fallen humans love to worship the creation and ignore their Creator. The psalmist is correct,
“But the one who rules in heaven laughs at them. The Lord makes fun of them” (Psalm 2:4, HSB).
“What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”
After viewing the majesty of God’s heavens, David walks away praising Him for His greatness,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge” (Psalm 19:1-2).
What David has seen of the starry skies puts a question in his mind. “If God can do all that, why would He pay any attention to the tiny creature called ‘Man’ on just one of His planets?” David understood that God is so big that He created the entire universe with “His fingers”[4]. That enormous size of the universe shrinks people down to mere specs walking on the minor blue planet, the earth. But still, God cares for each person there.
“How could the God who created the mighty heavens possibly be interested in man? In the very question, however, divine inspiration impelled the psalmist to anticipate God’s ultimate testimony to the importance of the earth and of man’s life on earth-namely, that He, Himself, would become man on earth.”[5] (Morris).
David already had the answer to his question when he said, “Thou art mindful of him.” And we need to understand that our great Creator is mindful of us, His creatures. He pays attention to us, cares for us, and knows what we do, say, think, and feel.
“And the son of man.”
David is referring to the offspring of man. Every child of humans is a part of humanity.
“Why should a God who is so vast and glorious, and who has all the starry worlds, so beautiful and grand, to claim his attention – why should He turn His thoughts on man?”[6] (Barnes).
Not only does this God care for us, but why would He honor mankind with the privilege of having dominion over His creation on earth?
“That thou visitest him?”
“God’s ‘visitation’ of man is His constant, loving, providential, regard…. It is to God’s present and continuous care that the verse refers.”[7]
“Thou hast granted me life and favor, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit” (Job 10:12).
“…The psalmist marvels that God—the supreme Creator—involves Himself with humanity”[8] (FSB).
“The rhetorical questions in verse 4 emphasize that man is an insignificant creature in the universe (cf. 144:3). Yet God cares for him immensely. It amazed David that the Lord of the universe even thinks about man” (BKC).
“Human beings are tiny specks in the scales of creation, yet we are the supreme object of God’s compassion. We are also the ones who will share God’s eternal glory. Meanwhile, it is to us that God has entrusted the charge and care of his creation in all its variety”[9] (TBG).
Quote: “Our relationship with God is like the dance of the porcupines. We seek Him in order to keep warm in the cold night, but we distance ourselves from Him in the warm sunny day. In other words, we tend to want God to pay attention to us on our terms, not His. We want to feel His significance but not so much that He has the freedom to test and prove our faith”[10] (Don Smith).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries, Guam.
[2] Guzik’s quote is from the Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[3] This is the second stanza of James Weldon Johnson’s sermon, “The Creation,” from his work God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse. Copyright, 1927, by The Viking Press, Inc. Printed in the U.S.A. First Published in April 1927. Second Printing, July 1927. Third Printing, March 1928. Fourth Printing, January 1929. Fifth Printing, July 1930. Composition and presswork by Abbott press & Mortimer-Walling, Inc. New York. Downloaded: Friday, September 3, 2021. From: https://docsouth.unc.edu/southlit/johnson/johnson.html.
[4] Poetically speaking. The scriptures do tell us that all God created on the first six days of creation. He simply “spoke into existence.” Read Genesis 1.
[5] Morris’s quote is from his book Sampling the Psalms… p. 26. Institute for Creation Research. ICR, 2716 Madison Avenue, San Diego, California, 92116. September 2, 2021.
[6] Albert Barnes, Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[7] Cambridge Bible, the electronic version in eSword.
[8] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ps 8:3–5). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[9] Knowles, A. (2001). The Bible guide (1st Augsburg books ed., p. 236). Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg.
[10] Smith’s quote Downloaded: September 3, 2021. From: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/smith_don/job/whirlwind06.cfm.