City Life Starter

By Stefan Johnsson

Psalm 8

1 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet;
7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Philip Yancey wrote in his book, Finding God in Unexpected Places, the following:

“You can almost mark the advancement of a people by noting their interest in stargazing. Each great civilization of the past—Inca, Moghul, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Renaissance European—made major breakthroughs in astronomy. There is an irony at work in human history: One by one, civilizations gain the capacity to fathom their own insignificance, then fail to recognize that fact and fade away.”

Gazing, seeing the vastness of the galaxy above us, has brought on questions about life and what the meaning of it is within almost every society on Earth. Philip Yancy points out the irony in this. How we, as humans, do not understand how small and insignificant we are in this universe and then fail to put the puzzle pieces together.

This is what separates Christians in how we view the universe. We are not insignificant, we are loved more than anything else that God has created. David saw this when he wrote Psalm 8. What is mankind that you are mindful of them, he asks God. That He cares for us that and made us a little lower than angles and rulers over everything on Earth.

To be a Christian is to know that we are a small speck of dust in this huge universe, but we are loved beyond anything else. To have a personal God come down to Earth and show us who he means that we are significant to him. Christianity is the only religion that provides a loving and personal God in this way and it is to give us the key to the answers we are looking for in life.

Sometimes we have to open up our eyes and realize the vastness of space and understand that this points to a creator. Not just a creator, but a creator who made us in His image and made all that we can see to show how much he cares for us.

This is a poem I wrote on my personal blog and was the first post that I made. I believe it goes well with this devotional.

Our Special Home

Billions of galaxies fill the vast empty space

Each one different, unique in their own place

They all shine with light, through the deep dark

Only one given a special, life-giving spark

Hidden within, it holds a gift proclaimed to all

Protected by a star, not too great, not too small

Perfectly placed as if it was done with great care

It was given great treasure that makes it so rare

With perfect conditions, no better, no worse

Teeming with life that is truly diverse

A planet for us, made purely divine

Created with love, thought, and design