This morning I read Psalm 8 in ‘The Legacy Standard Bible’ (LSB) which is a version I have never read before and am using for this cycle of Psalm reading. As you know, if you've been reading my comments over the years, I like to read different translations of the scriptures because it keeps it fresh for me as I trample over familiar paths.
This morning my attention was drawn to the word majesty which the LSB uses three times in its translation of Psalm 8.
Psalm 8:1 (LSB): “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who displays (Or set) Your splendour above the heavens!”
Septuagint (OSB): “how wondrous is Your name”.
Psalm 8:5 (LSB): “Yet You have made him a little lower than the angels (Or God; Heb Elohim), and You crown him with glory and majesty!”
Septuagint (OSB): “You crowned him with glory and honour.”
Psalm 8:9 (LSB): “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”
Septuagint (OSB): “how wondrous is Your name”.
Psalm 8 is a worshipful meditation on the night sky, but it is not just a matter of sitting in the silent contemplation of wordless adoration; it is telling God about God!
The Psalmist tells God about several things including the fact that He is the Sovereign God - not a passive, ornamental Sovereign, but the active, executive, managing director, controller, and detailed planner of His world, in all its aspects and activities. He is a God Who is truly God. This is reassuring to know in our current world where some authorities continue to try to ‘scare the pants off us’ - to quote the UK Minister of Health during the COVID Pandemic!
For example, with respect to the climate, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke at the 53rd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 18, 2023, regarding the “horror story” and “death sentence” of climate change.
He doesn't seem to be aware, or doesn't want to be aware that, in the 1960s, meteorologist Edward Lorenz proved that accurate long-range weather forecasting is impossible.
This seemingly common-sense “discovery” was an outgrowth of what scientists call “chaos theory,” which states that systems behave unpredictably due to the conditions in which they started. In other words, the slightest influences, in the beginning, can result in completely unpredictable results as systems develop. These are called “chaotic systems.” Many people, without understanding the science, subscribe to the “chaos theory.” They believe the world is totally out of control and is careening through the universe on a collision course with some accidental destiny.
It is not wrong to think of this world as a “system.” In fact, the Greek word kosmos (translated “world”) means an ‘ordered arrangement’. It is completely wrong to view this world in terms of the modern chaos theory. While the earth was at one time 'chaotic' – “Without form, and void” - Genesis 1:2 (ESV) – it is now being carried in the hands of “Him Who works all things according to the counsel of His will” - Ephesians 1:11 (OSB).
So, every headline that attempts to ‘scare the pants off us’ should be a reminder that there is no news in heaven!!!
Our Trinitarian God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the one and only God of all the earth – and His attributes aren’t designed by any world body, nation, society, or individual, but according to His 'name', that is, the way He has revealed Himself. There is no God except the God Who has revealed Himself in the holy Scriptures! This is one of the important reasons why we read the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, but also the whole of the Scriptures – because this is where we learn and understand Who God is, and we need to know, otherwise it will affect our well-being.
We all know, that as belief in God has diminished in the Western world in recent years, mental health problems have mushroomed. There is a connection. Because people do not know anymore that God is in control and that He loves us and that He has created each one of us for His purpose - 'to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind,' and 'our neighbor as ourselves.' Luke 10:27 (OSB)
The ironic thing is that governments are pouring enormous amounts of money into mental health while at the same time not allowing counsellors to point their mentally unhealthy clients to their loving sovereign Creator.
The final thing I would like to say, and this was what came to me in a fresh way this morning, is that the Psalmist shows us the appropriate, authentic, humble estimate we should have of ourselves, - a deep, prevailing 'wonderment' that such a great God as ours should concern Himself with humans such as me and you.
The majestic, sovereign, loving God of our universe, crowned us humans with majesty!!
Have we ever pondered how extraordinarily wondrous this is?
If we are tempted to think how great we are because of what God has done for us, we have missed the point. The point is not ‘how great is man’, but ‘how graced is man’ — and ‘how great is God’.
God's grace, honour, mercy, love, favour towards us humans is to the glory of His majesty.
We can say with the Psalmist; “O Lord, our Lord.” (Psalm 8:1).
He is majestic in greatness, power, and glory — and majestic in grace toward us, so much so that we can say that He is ourLord.
Thanks be to God for everything, especially His love and grace towards us.
Fr. Geoff
April 2023