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

You have set your glory above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise 

because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider 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, the son of man that you care for him?

You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet:

all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 

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

When I read this psalm, my focus went straight to verses 3-4, and especially “What is man that you are mindful of him?” As we know from experience, we are sinful and wicked and not deserving of God. Yet, I share David’s amazement when it says that “God made man a little lower than Himself and crowned him with glory and honor.” What a great God we have that He would do that for us even when we have never earned it!

Furthermore, this psalm connects back to Genesis 1:28 where God gives mankind the charge to rule over every living creature in the entire earth. My bible contains an important note when it talks about this charge: the word rule doesn’t mean “use” but instead it means “take care of.” We have a responsibility to take care of the earth and all that is in it because God entrusted it to us from the very beginning when He created the earth. How are we going to respond when we know that many in this world are doing the exact opposite of this? Let us strive to do all that we can to actually take care of the people and the earth that He so diligently created by the work of His own hands!

Father, would you use me to do Your will today. Thank you for the power and authority that you have given me. Let me use this power and authority not to exploit, but instead to take care of all that you have made on this earth. You have entrusted me with a great honor, but it is also a great responsibility. I have nothing to offer You, yet you say that I am worth everything! Thank you for your grace and forgiveness when I choose disobedience. O LORD, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! Amen.