“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers— the moon and the stars you set in place— what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”
Psalm 8:3-4 NLT
We can just imagine David, lying back in a meadow during his sheep-caring days, looking up into the sky and seeing all the heavenly objects displayed before him. There was no light pollution in those days and the moon and stars would have been blazing out in all their glory. David rightly attributed the wonder before him to the “work of [God’s] fingers”, creative power of which he had no doubts about who was responsible. Today, the same vista is still there, full of wonder and “wow”. I can remember one clear night, while holidaying in a remote part of the West of Scotland, looking up into the sky, amazed at how many dots of light there were. There were no street lights fogging the raw visual effect of the universe, displayed unfettered before me.
We read in Genesis 1:14-18, “Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good”. Why did God create the sun, moon and stars? The sun because it warms the planet on which we live, and the other celestial objects can help with navigation, but David was reminded about the works of our Creator God. The heavenly lights are indeed a constant display of God’s power and glory, perhaps put there for the benefit of mankind, who have been created in His image.
Atheists I feel sorry for. They too can look up and see what David saw, but rather than lapsing into praise and thanks to the One who put them there, they shrug their shoulders, thinking that what they see is just the result of a random event that they think happened billions of years ago. The physicists try and devise theories about how this could ever have happened, coming up with ideas like the “Big Bang” but ignoring issues such as where all the matter out of which the moon and stars were made, actually came from in the first place. But we pilgrims can look up and enjoy the heavenly spectacle, secure in the knowledge of the God of Genesis.
David’s thoughts moved on to the wonder of why the God who created what he could see in the heavens would consider such lowly mortals as himself. And more, why God should care for human beings at all. And that is a challenge, as we consider that God’s created humans have become so badly corrupted by sin and evil. Why should God care for us at all? Why not wipe us all out as He did to Noah’s generation or the people in Sodom and Gomorrah? No, God had a better plan called Jesus. And the wonder continues. The God who created the moon and stars, cares so much for us, that He sent His Son to die for our sins, taking on the punishment that we deserved so that we could be the people God wanted us to be when He created us. The wonder of creation didn’t stop with the night sky. It continues in the hearts and minds of all those who look up and beyond the heavenly objects right to the throne of God Himself.
Dear Creator God. We thank You for Your care for mere mortals like us. Your wonder, glory and power is without end. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 