Psalm 8

I recall a wise seminary professor saying to us students, “Some things about God are best left to mystery.” What great counsel! We live in such a highly practical, seemingly enlightened age, that we feel the need to explain all the mysteries of the universe. Offering logical explanations for things that defy all logic. But the psalmist reminds us of the benefit of wonder and awe when considering the things of God.

O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you. When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour. You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents. O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! (Psalm 8)

I appreciate how the divine composer filled his psalm with more questions than answers. That’s a helpful rubric for measuring our own mysterious circumstances. Resist the urge to explain God and force Him into a convenient box that fits our need for control. Instead, learn from the psalmist and look into the night sky with wonder at the majesty and mystery of His power. Let His greatness bring perspective to whatever you face today. And in the process, stand still and stay quiet.

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Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord ... Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright ©2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.