Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary God Pause - Moved by the Promise - Read Psalm 8:1-9

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary God Pause - Moved by the Promise - Read Psalm 8: For the Chief Musician; on an instrument of Gath. A Psalm by David.
1 Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth,
    who has set your glory above the heavens!
2 From the lips of babes and infants you have established strength,
    because of your adversaries, that you might silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;
4 what is man, that you think of him?
    What is the son of man, that you care for him?
5 For you have made him a little lower than God,[a]
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You make him ruler over the works of your hands.
    You have put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and cattle,
    yes, and the animals of the field,
8     The birds of the sky, the fish of the sea,
    and whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9 Yahweh, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 8:5 Hebrew: Elohim. The word Elohim, used here, usually means “God”, but can also mean “gods”, “princes”, or “angels”. The Septuagint reads “angels” here.(World English Bible)
There's nothing quite so humbling as gazing at a breathtaking landscape scene: the Grand Canyon cutting across the desert; the ocean rolling into the distance; the mountain range stretching in all directions; the canopy of a clear star-filled night sky. In those moments, the psalmist's words of meditation, "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them" make sense (Psalm 8:4). The wonder of Pentecost is that through the gift of the Holy Spirit the fullness of God, the creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the painter of the desert canvas, the sculptor of the mountains, the igniter of the stars dwells in us...human beings of whom God IS mindful, mortals for whom God does care!
God, we are in awe of the majesty of your name and of the glory of the heavens. We gaze at the world you have created around us, and we respond with the psalmist: "O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth." Amen.
Michelle Collins
Director of Faith Formation, Advent Lutheran Church, Melbourne, Fla. 
Master of Arts , 2007
Psalm 8:1 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!(New Revised Standard Version)
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