Psalm 8

Glory to God in the highest, and peace towards His people on earth!

Lord God, Heavenly King, Almighty God and Father,

we worship You, we give You thanks, we praise You for Your glory!

Lord God Most High, Jesus Christ with the Father,

Lord God, Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,

have mercy on us.

You are seated at the right hand of the Father, receive our prayer!

For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord,

You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ!

With the Holy Spirit and the glory of God the Father, Amen.

Okay so that was from memory – of the many times we’ve attended Sunday mass over at the Church of the Resurrection. It stuck into our minds and, well, it’s nice to come back to every now and then, especially now, considering all that we are and all that we have through Christ as our Savior.

I mean, there’s already so much packed in this composition, far more than the songs we have today which we include in the ‘slow’ or ‘worship’ portion of our Sunday worship lineups. It implies that our God, and our Father is worthy of all glory and praise, much so that we sing it as the angels sang over the shepherds before they headed to behold the Babe in a Bethlehem manger.

And one thing that’s been on my mind – Have you noticed that with the proclamation of glory unto our God, is a declaration of peace upon all of us, and the rest of creation? I feel it’s as if to say that when we worship, we minister to the people at the same time that we give the glory the Lord deserves.

Remember Jericho. Walls break and fall when we shout of His glory.

Remember Stephen. Forgiveness was proclaimed to those who killed him, and to Saul, who was watching their coats, just as he let out his final breath.

Remember Christ, on the cross – He proclaimed it was finished, and when He breathed His last, the earth shook, and the veil of the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn from top to bottom.

Peace is proclaimed, glory and grace resonate when we praise. Christ and His finished work are brought to remembrance.

And, mind you, when we praise and worship our God and Father, we aren’t just ministering to the people – we minister to ourselves, just as much. For just as the composition was ordered, we ourselves remember the Lamb of God who took our sins. We remember our forgiveness, our cleansing – and it is with this recalling that we lift our concerns and burdens, the same time we lift our praises to Him – the Most High, Jesus Christ.

So, friends, if you’ve made it this far, I would challenge all of us – myself included – to just do ourselves a favor, to do our beings and all those concerning us a favor, by praising God, and giving Him the glory He deserves.

In fact, right now, I would venture to say that He deserves all praise, for He has helped us, He IS helping us right now, and He WILL help us; We glorify His name because by His name we remember our salvation, our absolute reconciliation, and our forever union with Him.

We take time to give glory to God, at the same time that we lift up all of our thoughts and all our memories to Him – knowing that (1) He who began a good work in us is faithful to finish what He started and (2) He causes all things to work for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

As we praise Him, we lift our burdens and concerns to Him, and as we lift all to Him, we affirm our full trust in Him. He will never put us to shame. He is righteous, and He is reliable.

Thank You, Father, that even now, we are being ministered to. We are being given revelation after revelation… and by the power of the Holy Spirit, You are producing fruit in us, fruit for every season and situation we find ourselves in – that we would behold Your glory and grace, and that more and more people would be saved, and that You would receive all the praise and worship.

Such a mouthful! But what else can we do, but praise? What else can we do, but worship?

What else can we say, but ‘Thank You‘? Thank You, Lord! Thank You, Father! Thank You, Jesus! Thank You, Holy Spirit! Halleluyah!

The Glory of the LORD in Creation

To the Chief Musician. On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,

4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,

7 All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field,

8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

2010 was when my nephew, Aaron, was around a year old, and we happened to visit him, and Dad was still with us. As always, my Mom loved visiting the Dollar Stores, and I remember her buying a DVD which just straight up contained hymns for children to listen to. As early as then Aaron had ‘favorites’ from the 10-15 songs; One of them was ‘Fairest Lord Jesus’, but another one started with that first half of Psalm 8:1. It was a ’round’ type song, where we would just keep on singing, ‘O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name, Your name, in all the earth!‘

Jonathan Ogden also made his own lo-fi version of the Psalm, which I could imagine David vibing to, starting off with Verse 3:

‘When I consider the heavens, the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars, and all the earth,

Who am I, that You are thinking of me? ‘

Again, that was off the top of my head. But one thing has me going here – beholding the heavens and the earth would just humble us to a point that all we could do is to just proclaim, in awe, of the excellence of our God.

Indeed, all Creation would have us glorify God. The great stars in the heavens, and the tiniest of flowers all project His power and might.

All Creation would also have us thank God – indeed, the God who made all this cares enough to think of us, to be mindful of us, and to visit us? Astounding!

I mean, this ministers to me now, keeping me personally focused, in light of all other thoughts that are trying to tear me down by splitting my attention and breaking my focus; To think, to hold on to the Truth of the matter: The God of all Creation is thinking of me.

Indeed, the God of all Creation is our Father through Christ, and we are able to cast all of our thoughts and concerns, even those that would try to tear us down, to Him. We’re able to run to our Father, and we’re able to lay it all down before Him, knowing He is willing and able to help us, but also because He is always thinking of us.

Astounding!

Again, if I may, let us praise His holy name, let us give thanks to our God, and let us remember that He is our Father, not merely thinking about us, but thinking OF us; Through Christ we know He is with us – All of Him with all of us.

Sing praises to His name. Give glory to the Father.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was and shall be forever and ever, amen. Amen.

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