A Glorious Puniness

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
   in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
   you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
   to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
   the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
   which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
   human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
   and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
   you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
   and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
   and the fish in the sea,
   all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 LORD, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8, NIV)


REFLECTIONS:
Human life is brief and when compared to God, we are tiny and weak. Yet God knows us, cares for us, and has given us responsibility to care for one another and for the earth. Between these two realities we make daily choices that build a life. 

Psalm 8 alternates words of praise for God’s majesty with words that describe humans as crowned with glory and honor. God’s work of creation mirrors God’s power. Compared to this power, humans are pretty puny. And yet, God has chosen us for a special role, placed us just a little lower than the angels, and given us dominion over the earth (verses 5-8; Genesis 1:26-30). 

The language of dominion—the idea that God has given humans the earth as a realm to rule—is a double-edged sword. It certainly gives us a significant role to play, a purpose, a chance to exercise our gifts in concert with God’s design. On the other edge, dominion can become an ugly justification for waste, greed, and brutish behavior. 

If we let either edge control us entirely, we can do damage to ourselves and others. We can grow arrogant and destructive if we become enamored of our power. Or we can check out entirely, wallow in our weakness, and fail to do our part. Both are distortions. Our spiritual life is the regulator that keeps us in balance, that makes dominion a task of stewardship, that makes relationship the source of accountability and renewal. 

Psalm 8 begins and ends with the same line, a celebration of God’s power. It reminds us that God has the first and the last word in the work of creation. God invites us to participate in a joyful call and a sobering charge, in which we can find a life’s work and an eternal purpose.


POINT OF PONDER AND PRAYER:
What do you understand the word dominion to mean in this passage? Where do you exercise dominion in your role at home, at work, or in the community?

God our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth. May our lives be hymns of praise that reflect your good gifts.


WHO AM I?
I am Tres Sansom, and I rejoice in the grace that God demonstrated by making us in his image. What a unique a glorious position we hold! Frail and finite, as our weakness and sinfulness shows. Yet entrusted with God-like qualities and dominion. By God's grace, may we be wise stewards of this new day, of this new year.