Majesty"O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens." Psalm 8:1
Have you ever reclined on a blanket and looked up at the night sky? Are you one who has been sufficiently interested in the stars that you know them by name? Know where to look for them? Know what constellation they belong to? See the patterns laid out in the sky?
Do you see the sun as the center of the universe? We were taught in school how our planet revolves around the sun (takes a year, right?), and how the moon orbits around us (4 weeks, right?).
I have to admit, my focus in life has not been on astronomy. I learned the facts I needed to know for my teacher, then blithely pursued another calling. Imagine my surprise when I read something I either forgot, or never learned from my teacher. The sun, moon, stars and planet earth (our solar system), are all part of the Milky Way galaxy and everything is on the move. To quote a NASA site (spaceplace.nasa.gov),
"A galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems. A galaxy is held together by gravity. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, also has a supermassive black hole in the middle.
When you look up at stars in the night sky, you're seeing other stars in the Milky Way. If it's really dark, far away from lights from cities and houses, you can even see the dusty bands of the Milky Way stretch across the sky.
There are many galaxies besides ours, though. There ae so many, we can't even count them all yet! The Hubble Space Telescope looked at a small patch of space for twelve days and found 10,000 galaxies, of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Some scientists think there could be as many as one hundred billion galaxies in the universe."
The NASA article goes on to relate these billions of galaxies sometimes get too close and smash into each other. Andromeda, our closest galactic neighbor, will someday bump into the Milky Way galaxy, but not to worry. It shouldn't happen for about five million years.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
Wow!
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Psalm 8:3
In Jon Courson's commentary on this verse he speaks to creation being the work of God's fingers. If the power to create the complex universe and hold it all together was the work of God's fingers, how much more would his arms accomplish?
"What was the work that required God's arms rather than merely His fingers? The work He did when His arms were pinned to the Cross as He bore the sins of mankind for you and for me. In other words, the work of creation was kid's stuff in comparison to the work of redemption."**
The next time disappointment, discouragement, or despair come knocking on your door, take a blanket and lie down on it in your back yard (or the beach). Look up at the night sky and let God refresh you with appreciation of his power and how he works on your behalf.
He is mindful of you (Psalm 8:3)
He loves you with eternal love (Jeremiah 31:3)
His thoughts of you are more than you can count (Psalm 139:17-18)
He has purchased you (to praise and glorify him) (Ephesians 1:14)
He will not let you stumble (Psalm 121:3)
He watches over you while you sleep (Psalm 121:3)
He has purpose for your life (Jeremiah 29:11)
He gives you rest (Matthew 11:28)
He is your salvation (Psalm 18:2, 27:1, 62:2, John 3:16-17, 10:9, Acts 2:21, 4:12, 16:31, Romans 5:9)
He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
He will complete his good work in you (Philippians 1:6)
He is preparing a place for you (John 14:2)
He is coming back for you (John 14:3)
He will present you without a flaw to Abba Father (Jude 24)
We will be with the Lord forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Please join me in meditating on his wonderful love and majesty.
"O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!" Psalm 8:9
**Jon Courson's Application Commentary Old Testament
Volume 2:Psalms--Malachi
by Marilyn Allison