When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,human beings that you should care for them?5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-5
David was awe struck, and I can understand. As he gazed into the beautiful starlit sky he was blown away at just that one part of God’s magnificent creation, but then another thought hit him that made him even more amazed. It was the thought of just what the Lord thinks of his most cherished creation, man.
As he stood there, the thought that God would put so much value on mankind that He would “crown” him, blew David away. To crown someone means to place them in high esteem, honor and authority, and that’s exactly what God has done for you and I. It can almost be too much for human thinking to absorb. To think that of all the magnificent things God created that He places His highest value on you and me.
Even the earliest translators of scripture struggled with this Divine truth. Many of them would not translate the word “God” in Psalm 8:5 to its original meaning, to them it just seemed impossible that God would place us that close to Him. Instead, many chose to translate the word ‘elohiym to “angels” instead of its true meaning which is God.
So what am I saying? I’m certainly not saying that we are “God,” but what I am saying is exactly what His word says. That you and I have been made in His image and He has given us glory and honor and has placed us second to himself. In fact, His value of us was so high that He was willing to become one of us so that He could die in our place and we could live the “abundant life.”
So what exactly does He want us to do with this “glory and honor” that He has bestowed upon us? He wants us to live our lives to the full. Allowing Him to lead us and guide us, so that our lives can reflect His glory throughout the world. And that “world” is the world of others that we come in contact with and surround us. He wants to show them Himself through us.
Today, with the help of His Spirit, may we walk in that place of glory and honor so that our world can see Him through us.