Will we ever get around to God? Or have we simply forgotten him?
America is proof that the blessings of God can wean us from remembering the necessity of God. Will we remember God this Thanksgiving? Will we thank him for who he is, what he has done, and what he has given us?
Consider God
Psalm 8 is the joyous ode of a man who can’t believe his place in the created order but is eternally grateful for it. David, the writer, perhaps alone one night stares at the vast expanse of the sky and considers the God who put it all into place. David, if you notice in this psalm, begins and ends with God. He doesn’t forget the source of all blessings.
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Consider God’s name. “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth” (Psa. 8:1). The name of God expresses the sum total of his attributes. It is more than a moniker; it is the embodiment of his character. When God revealed his name he was making himself known, revealing himself to humanity, and inviting intimacy with the created.
Consider God’s glory. “You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psa. 8:1). The glory of God is the essence of his nature, the weight of his importance, the radiance of his splendor, the demonstration of his power, and the atmosphere of his presence. God’s glory is the expression of his goodness and all his other intrinsic, eternal qualities.
Consider God’s heavens. “When I consider your heavens . . . the moon and the stars, which you have set in place” (Psa. 8:3). With the night sky stretched out before him he literally “sees” the moon and the stars. We can marvel at the heavens today with greater wonder than David. We know that in one second a beam of light travels 186,000 miles, which is seven times around the earth. It takes eight minutes for that beam to go from the sun to the earth. In a year the same beam travels almost six trillion miles. Scientists call this a “light year.” Eight billion light-years from earth is halfway to the edge of the known universe. The vastness of the universe is the vastness of God.
Consider God’s fingers. “. . . the work of your fingers . . .” (Psa. 8:3). God’s fingers, according to David, set the stars in place. His fingers, mind you, not his hand or his arm, reveals the power of God. Far less power dwells in the hand than the arm and in the finger than the hand. To create stars, planets, and galaxies, God needed only his fingers. The created order is the work of God’s fingers.