Looking Up

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?”  Psalm 8:3

Ever looked up?  And just kept on looking?  During the day, billowing clouds silhouette against a monochrome canvas which transforms before dusk into a diverse palette of brightness and beauty.  As the darkness of night envelopes the sky, layers of stars twinkle far into the deep.  Planets glow, and the moon glistens.

But what lies way beyond the blue?  What’s behind this vastness we call space?  The answer is more who than what—God and His glory.  “You have set your glory above the heavens,” the psalmist declares(vs 1), and yet this infinite God, whose majesty explodes from all corners of the universe, pleasures in the praise of even His smallest creatures.  “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise”(vs 2).  

Why?  Why with a cosmos so majestic and bold does God even bother with us?  “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?”(vs 4)  Does God need us?  Is He deficient without us?  Not at all.  Our self-fulfilling, all-comprehensive God requires none to be complete.  It was not lack but love that drove Him to play in Eden’s dirt.  His desire for us and His delight in us compelled His creation of man.   

We may be small but we are special.  Swirling galaxies can never make God smile as much as our simple gratitude.  Exploding nebula can never lift Him higher than our joyous worship.  And the enormous cavern of expanding space can never hold more of God than our humble hearts. 

The next time you look up and wonder why God looks down, remember that you are the reason.