“what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them? Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour.”
Psalm 8:4-5 NLT
Was David elevating himself above his station in life when he declared that mankind has been “made only a little lower then God”? The NIV translation reads, “You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour”, but it seems the original Hebrew does in fact say “God”. There are many differences between human beings and God. In fact, the gulf is so great that it is almost mutually exclusive. God is Spirit, mankind is physical. Two different kingdoms, but there is a link between God and man, as there is between a Creator and His creation. Isaiah wrote about the connection between a potter and the pots he was making. “How foolish can you be? He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay! Should the created thing say of the one who made it, “He didn’t make me”? Does a jar ever say, “The potter who made me is stupid”?” (Isaiah 29:16). Paul took up this theme in Romans 9, “ … Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into?” (Romans 9:20-21).
There is of course perhaps a degree of relativity here, with human beings having intelligence far above that of an earthworm, for example, and the ability to be creators in their own right. Just look around us and we see many “potters” making their own “pots”. Each one of us is able to create something from the materials we have to hand. And of course we all know someone who sets themselves up as a “god” in their environment, be it the workplace or their local neighbourhood. But the fact remains that David wrote something that, superficially at least, seems to be incorrect. How could human beings be a “little lower” than God?
Perhaps David was writing something prophetic about what was to come. If we turn to Hebrews 2:9 we read, “What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honour.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone”. Paul wrote in Romans 8:29, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters”. Through our connection with Jesus, and amazingly how bizarre it sounds, we have the potential within us to join Him in His status as being a “little lower than God“. In our positions of being brothers and sisters of Jesus we have within us unlimited possibilities to do God’s work. Have we really got our minds around what Paul write in Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think“? It is this potential for accomplishment that is possible because of His power, and our willingness to serve and be obedient to Him, that challenges me. Does this elevate us pilgrims through faith to a position a “little lower than God“? God said it can. Do we believe Him?
Dear Father God. In You we have enormous potential to do great things for You. Stir us up, we pray, to violate our human thinking and replace it with Your thoughts. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 