Psalm 8: Song of a Starry Night
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It is not hard to imagine that David wrote this exquisite lyric during one of those nights of his early shepherd life when, alone with his sheep, he looked up into the starry sky and felt the dignity of kinship with his Maker; or that, later in life, he composed it in recollection of the ecstasy of such early experiences.” David wrote many “nature psalms”; this being the first (see also Psalms 19; 29; 104). “The psalm has also been called A Psalm in Praise of the Dignity of Man. In it the poet stands under the open canopy of the moonlit and star-studded sky, awe-struck by his contemplation of God’s handiwork in nature. In the presence of all this vastness, there comes upon him a sudden realization of the insignificance of puny man. No sooner, however, is this feeling entertained than it is swallowed up in his consciousness of the true dignity of man, who is God’s representative on earth, in nature a little less than divine, with all things put in subjection under his feet. No wonder that the psalmist, thus impressed by the dignified position that man holds in the universe, should extol the excellence of his Creator.” The vast expanse of space, with its billions of stars and galaxies, dwarfs us when we consider God’s creation.
Yet God cared enough for fallen humanity to send His Son to redeem us.
“Why should the infinite God, who has a universe of worlds to claim His attention, be ‘mindful’ of finite man? Why should He honor man by making him viceroy of the earth? Only in the realization of the worth of a human soul created in God’s likeness can one answer these questions. This realization comes only in appreciation of the Saviour’s death on the cross.” “The worth of man is known only by going to Calvary. In the mystery of the cross of Christ we can place an estimate upon man.”
