God's Glory: Strength in Weakness and Humanity's Calling

O Lord our Lord how excellent is your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens now it's a fascinating way that this psalm begins just in the very first line o Lord our Lord now when I say those words in the English language reading from the text of the New King James Bible Lord and Lord are the same word but here what we need to understand is if you were reading this with your eyes you would see that the first mention of the word Lord is in all capital letters the second mention of the word Lord is a capital L followed by a lowercase O our D what David does here is recognize that covenant name of God that is Yahweh that that's what translates or is translated by that first occasion of Lord in all capital letters the whom we would call Yahweh the this Yahweh in older English maybe Jehovah but David recognized the Covenant name of God Yahweh and the position of Yahweh to his people Lord meaning I don't I simply saying master o Yahweh our Auto nigh you the Covenant God of Israel who is our master our Lord [00:01:17]

David considered the power and the glory of God in how it can be seen even in small children don't you love that phrase there in verse two babes and nursing infants God's strength God's glory is also evident in them now just think about it you look up into the starry skies you see the glory of the the heavens the glory of the Sun and the moon and all the stars you take a look at that and you are astounded by the majestic glory of God then you look at a newborn baby you look at just the the wonderful glory and power and beauty and significance of a new life out of a babe or nursing infant and that you say that also is a manifestation of the amazing glory and strength of God [00:05:08]

God uses otherwise weak things to display his glory and strength how would God why would God ever use a babe or nursing infant to display his strength why does he do it because God loves to display his glory and his strength through things that are otherwise thought of as weak first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 27 says this but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty listen it's hard to think of anything more weak and helpless than a baby yet the same God who shows his glory in the heavens the same God who can ordained strength out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants he can give strength and support to you in the midst of your weakness might I say to me in the midst of my weakness [00:06:29]

When I consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have ordained what is man that you were mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him for you have made him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned him with glory and honor now check this out verses three four and five are very important first David considers the heavens David knew the value of simply considering the glory of God's creation now I'll tell you we in the modern age we have a real advantage over David we have all these amazing nature programs that we can watch all the time and we can know the intricate glory of creation in a way that was far beyond David's ability to know it [00:11:49]

Considering the greatness of the heavens also made David consider the relative smallness and insignificance of man David wondered why such a big great would be mindful of such small beings haven't you experienced this haven't you looked up into the night sky filled with stars and felt very very small now God is so big that he makes the universe with his fingers man is so small that he's dwarfed by the universe yet David did not doubt for a moment that God was mindful a man that God thinks about man he simply said it's right there in verse 4 you are mindful of man and he only wondered why now it's fair for us to ask David same question Lord why are you mindful of man but we should share the assurance of David's what was David's assurance that God was in fact mindful of man he thinks of us God considers what we do [00:15:16]

David was confident that God not only carefully thought about man thinks about you but that he also had some kind of personal connection and contact with men that's the phrase in verse 4 that you visit him you see friends it's not just that God thinks about us but he thinks about us and God acts in our life what is man that you're mindful of him but but there are people of whom maybe we think about but we never have any kind of personal connection with God says no not only am I going to think about humanity I am going to visit him I am going to be personally interacting with mankind [00:18:44]

Though for a little while mankind is set lower than the angels man's destiny is to one day be crowned with a glory and honor that surpasses even the Angels me tell you something very sobering very wonderful it is the destiny of redeemed men and women to one day be lifted above the Angels you'll find that in 1st Corinthians chapter 6 verse 3 word says we will judge angels you'll find it in Revelation chapter 1 verse 6 Revelation chapter 5 verse 10 it says we've been made kings and priests with our God higher than the Angels you see the idea of us being little is temporary at least for God's redeemed God's destiny for mankind is to crown him with glory and honor [00:24:16]

God has to given mankind Dominion and authority over the earth now as part of that authority mankind has the responsibility to wisely manage the creatures and the resources of this earth in a way that gives God glory and in a way that's good for man the fact that God gives man dominion over the earth doesn't mean that man is to abuse the earth and it is proper for believers to have some measure of ecological concern however we have to say this when we look at the world at least as it is here in the 21st century for many people especially many secular people although we got to say it's not only confined to secular people but for many secular people worship of the earth has become their new religion [00:28:16]

We don't worship the earth we don't worship the creation we don't bow down before it but we understand that God has given us dominion over the earth to wisely manage the creatures in the resource of the earth again we need to do it in a way that gives God glory and that's good for man it doesn't give God glory and it's not good for man to waste the resources of this earth to needlessly pollute the earth you see it's wrong to see man as merely part of the ecosystem we're not merely part of the ecosystem God has given us dominion over the ecosystem at least in some sense not in the sense that we can do whatever we want with the ecosystem [00:29:21]

David understood the mandate that God gave to Adam and his descendants at creation you can find that in Genesis chapter 1 you can find it in Genesis chapter 9 by both God's decree and through superior ability man indeed has dominion over the other creatures and the resources of the earth make no mistake God put mankind over the earth giving him dominion he didn't put the dolphins over the earth he didn't put the mountains over the earth he didn't put the mosquitoes over the earth although sometimes it seems like mosquitoes rule no he put humanity mankind on one thing I find fascinating about this is that when he says you've made him to have dominion over the works of your hands clearly david has in mind the first chapter of Genesis [00:26:08]

When David thought about how vast a Dominion God had given to man it made him praise God all over again that God would take this humble creature again humble in light of the majesty of the universe humble in light of our present standing being under angelic beings that such creatures should be given such authority in dominion over creation this is a demonstration of the excellence of God and the goodness of God you see David underst this that the position of man in creation says far more about the glory of God than it does about the glory of man we could say here we are humanity we have dominion over creation look how mighty where no that's not the right approach the right approaches here we are weak and failing we are insignificant in light of the universe we are below the angels yet nevertheless nevertheless God has given us dominion it should make us praise God not praise man [00:32:47]

God made man every human being is created in the image of God God made man number two God made man something glorious and then number three God made man for a high and worthy destiny oh how I wish every man every woman who walks the face of the earth would understand these three principles from Psalm eight if they understood this they would be in such a position to relate to God rightly and to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ to understand that God made us god made us something glorious and that God made us for a high and worthy destiny and we should not sell ourselves short but notice all three of these principles are rooted in what God has made man that they don't exist nor are they fulfilled apart from the plan or work a man know that they're fulfilled by what God does [00:34:10]