Walking with the Psalms | Psalm 8 | Saturday 2nd March

Psalm 8

Reflection Written by Peter Illingworth

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.
    Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
    to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are humans that you are mindful of them,
    mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
    and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
    whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Sovereign,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!


Chapter 8 of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy begins with a reflection on the enormity of space: "Space," it says, "is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to space”.

Psalm 8, probably written by King David, considers much the same thing: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

I am a tiny speck on a trivial planet orbiting an average sun which itself is one of one hundred thousand million stars in our galaxy with a further one hundred thousand million galaxies out there.  Why should God, the Creator, have any interest in me?

With our materialistic view of the Universe, “bigger is better”, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that way, but this Psalm goes on to celebrate the fact that God has made us: a little lower than the angels, He has crowned us with glory and honour and has put us in charge over everything that He has made.  Just like the red blood corpuscles in our bodies, too small to see without a microscope, He has made us the life blood of the world around us.

And our response can be the same as that of King David, who starts and finishes the Psalm with the same words, “Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

In The Hitchhiker’s Guide, Douglas Adams jokes that "The answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42."  Psalm 8 points us towards a more meaningful answer: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.