“O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.”
“O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”
Psalm 8:1-2, 9 NLT
Momentous words start and end this Psalm. David, musing with his “stringed instrument” is overwhelmed with thoughts of God’s majesty, and how the whole earth reflects it. The dictionary definition of “majesty“, of “sovereign power”, doesn’t really do justice to the majesty of God. An earthly king or queen may be referred to as “your majesty” but their human bounds put them far below the majesty of God. In the presence of the UK’s King Charles, we can refer to him as “your majesty” but we have to be there with him to do so. But David’s majestic Lord is everywhere, and as we look around us we see His majesty displayed for all to see. The skies and clouds. The celestial objects. And around us we see God’s earthly creation everywhere we look. The plants and animals, human beings populating the world. David was correct when he said “Your majestic name fills the earth”.
David also wrote about the glory of God. We can never adequately define God’s glory, because it encompasses all that he is, and we can never get our human minds around it. His beauty, His Spirit, His creative power, His … The list goes on and on. And David again correctly wrote that God’s glory extends far beyond all that we see, because God is all and is in all.
Majesty and glory surpassing what our minds can encompass. We can never get close to God and really know who He is. Dr S M Lockridge wrote this: “Well, I wonder if you know Him. Do you know Him? Don’t try to mislead me. Do you know my King? David said the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is the only one of whom there are no means of measure that can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of the shore of His supplies. No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing“.
We only have to look up and gaze in wonder at the heavens above us to get a glimpse of the majesty of God. His glory can be seen in the myriad of celestial bodies that lighten the night sky, and the most powerful telescopes known to mankind have not reached the limits of what God has achieved. But closer to home we have been loved and blessed without limit by our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus. Fellow pilgrim, do we know Him? Really know Him? If not, like David we can sit back and muse on our majestic God. Let us set aside the thoughts and cares of life, and instead shift our focus heavenwards, and, as the old song says, “the things of earth will go strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace”.
Dear Heavenly Father. We lift our hands to You in worship today, basking in Your love and grace, and proclaiming Your majesty and glory, with grateful hearts. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 