Psalm 8 Continued…
The latter part of Psalm 8:1 reads: “You have set your glory above the heavens.” He continues in verse three, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place.” (Psalm 8:3) Sixteen different times in the Psalms does David refer to the “heavens” but only here, in Psalm 8, does he talk about the moon and the stars.
It harkens us back to Genesis 1 and 2 and God’s creative work. On the fourth day of Creation God made the moon and the stars in the sky. The ancient Hebrews divided the heavens into layers. The first heaven is the atmosphere of the earth. This is where the clouds are and where rain comes from. (cf. 1 Kings 8:35) The second heaven is what David is referring to in this psalm. Where the moon and the stars reside. (cf. Nehemiah 9:6) The third heaven is the place where God dwells. It is His operation center. Paul refers to this: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know — God knows. And I know that this man — whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
How many times have you been driven to praise God because of His glory in the heavens? As an amateur astronomer, I used to love to take out my inexpensive telescope in the evenings and witness the beauty of our galaxy. I remember one particular summer evening when my wife and I were out doing this very thing with Christian friends in 1996. We stayed up late talking about the Lord and had a campfire going, of course I also had my telescope set up to see what the night sky had to offer.
And suddenly, sometime after 1:00 o’clock in the morning, the aurora borealis appeared in the sky above us. We were all dumbfounded. We were struck by the majesty and beauty of what God was painting in the sky above us. It was a moment I will never forget. All of us broke out in song that summer evening. We didn’t have any other response at such a marvelous sight. But you know this as well as I, you do not need to see the Northern Lights to be put in awe by the work of God’s hands in the heavenlies.
Maybe on a crisp January evening when you are away from the city lights, you will look up in the sky and see the ancient hunter Orion, with his bow ready, and you will be moved to praise the One who placed Orion there in the first place. God has put multiple billions and trillions of stars in our universe and of all of them, he has a special fondness for this “pale blue dot” (as Carl Sagan once called planet earth). The reason, you are here. And He made all that He made to show you how much He loves you!
Pray
Thank you Father for speaking all the stars and planets into existence!