Usually my Words of Encouragement are short devotionals that come out of my personal devotional time. I was told by a mentor once that when I teach what God is teaching me, it will be more effective because more of my heart will be behind it. But it is that sentiment that has me wanting to share from Psalm 8, specifically Psalm 8:3-4.

“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” David declares as he opens this Psalm. It’s monsoon season in Arizona right now and I work in Scottsdale but live in Chandler. So I have a little commute to and from work, but I mostly work nights. I get off work, get on the freeway, and in the dark drive home. Because of the monsoon, off in the distance some nights I get to see grand lights flashing in the clouds. Every now and then a bolt of lightning comes down to the Earth in a grand display. When the sky is clear I get to see stars flickering around, decorating what would otherwise be a blank canvas.

It’s a beautiful display either way and every time it takes my breath away, no matter how many times I’ve seen it. The reason why is that when I look at that sky, those flashing lights, I am reminded that it is the God that I know who created all this.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

God created this grand and beautiful universe. We know it is even bigger now than David could have even comprehended. All he knew was what he could see and the astronomy that people knew at the time. Yet it drove him to worship, “When you made all of this… how can you even know about mankind here? And not just that but how can you know me, an individual, and care for me?”

David’s question is twofold. God is mindful of man. Meaning God knows of humanity. Yet He also knows the son of man, individual people, and He cares for them. God is huge and way more massive than we could ever comprehend. He made these beautiful displays of the sky, the entire universe, and He is in control of it all. Yet He knows who we are. He cares for us too.

In fact, Romans 1 tells us that He created all of it so that we could see it and through it see what kind of God He is and be driven to worship of Him.

When you hear “the God who made the heavens and the earth,” think about the God who created everything around you and the entire universe, and remember that He knows who you specifically are and He cares for you.

The God who made the heavens and the earth is with you today.

Grace and peace

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