“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained,” (Psalm 8:3 NKJV)
“Look at the splendor of your skies, your creative genius glowing in the heavens, when I gaze at your moon and your stars, mounted like jewels in their settings, I know you are the fascinating artist who fashioned it all! But I have to ask this question:” (Psalm 8:3 TPT)
“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars set in place – ” (Psalm 8:3 NLT)
“When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have established,” (Psalm 8:3 AMP)
“When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place,” (Psalm 8:3 HCSB)
“Because they have seen Your Heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have prepared.” (Psalm 8:3 ABIPE)
As I look at verse 3 of Psalm 8 my attention is drawn to the beauty and magnificence of my Daddy’s creation. The universe, filled with all of my Daddy’s handiwork, is an awesome display of His greatness. As His created child I was born with an innate desire to explore what He has created. I remember at a very young age how much I loved to lay out in a field and gaze up into the sky trying to see all that I could see. Every now and then I would be thrilled to catch a glimpse of a shooting star. I remember seeing the lights of a passing airliner and wondering if maybe it could be a UFO. The question of just what might be out there has intrigued mankind from the beginning. This curiosity has inspired a variety of ideas set forth in artwork, books, movies, and many spirited discussions through the years.
Verse 3 is setting the groundwork for the question that David is about to ask in verse 4. I will consider his question tomorrow. For today, I am pondering His creation. While thinking about this, Daddy brought Paul’s writings to my mind. Paul had quite a bit to say about the spiritual impact that creation has on the awareness of the Creator.
When Paul wrote to the Romans one of the first things that he did was confront the excuse that they were making for living such sin filled lives. They were living to fulfill their self driven lusts, and as such were living as though there was no one greater than themselves to which they were accountable. When they did think about the possibility of someone, or something, out there, they shrunk that being down to something they could control. They wanted to shrink the concept of a Creator down to a level that was less threatening to their desire to be in complete control of their own lives and life choices. This may explain why we have so many created “deities” in human history representing things found in creation. Paul said, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.” (Romans 1:22-23 NKJV). Earlier Paul had written, ” “For since the creation of the world His (God) invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead…” (Romans 1:20 NKJV).
Like David, when the Apostle Paul considered creation He was awed at the magnificence of the Creator. When I stop to think about all that is out there it makes me realize that what is all around me cannot be just the random evolution of nature. To me, the existence of creation demands the existence of a Creator. The intricacies of design that I see point me to a Designer. And in all of this, I can’t help but wonder, “why me?” I begin to ask the questions…
…”Who am I in the midst of this vast creation?”
…”Why am I here, now?”
…”Is there a design, a purpose for my existence?”
…”Is there more than than I currently comprehend?”
Do you ever wonder?
I will go further tomorrow. For now, I will just take a moment to wonder, as I consider…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 263: Life’s Divine Design (Psalm 8) Part 4 – Verse 3