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How Majestic!

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“How Majestic!”

Psalm 8:1-9 (8:1) – June 15, 2025

            Have you ever been far from the city lights, at night? Have you ever looked up into the sky, and seen countless stars spread out, twinkling high above? When I went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and again in rural central Indiana, the starry skies were absolutely breathtaking. Amazing. Majestic, as the psalmist King David said in our Psalm reading today.

            Listen again: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” I can just imagine King David sitting far away from the lights of the city of Jerusalem, perhaps contemplating the stars as he saw them in his youth, when he looked after his father’s sheep, or as a younger adult, a leader of men in the wilderness of Judah, David certainly had many opportunities to gaze up into the night skies and see the breathtaking stars.

            As we gaze up into the night and see the amazing sight of all the stars laid out above us, we marvel. Marvel just as countless people have done throughout the millenia. As we think about the vastness and sheer beauty of the heavens, other vast, even unanswerable questions may come to mind. Just as countless people have done, and have reflected upon. Questions like: What was God doing before God created the world? And, how can there never be a time before or after God? And, how can God pay attention to each person in the world all the time? [1]

            These kinds of big questions have puzzled people for millenia, too. You and I could get hung up on these kinds of questions, and totally lose sight of the sheer, magnificent, bottomless awesomeness of God. Or, are we simply to return to the first verse of today’s reading, and be totally in awe at God’s glorious majesty? “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.”

            My husband tells me when I am thinking about big ideas, I am sometimes too focused on individual trees, rather than looking at a whole forest. That is what comes to mind when I get sidetracked by wondering what God was doing before God created the world. Or, maybe, why did God create rattlesnakes and mosquitoes? Perhaps – it is okay just to contemplate the vastness of the heavens and the sheer beauty of all the stars, comets, moons and other creations in the universe! Just as Psalm 8 invites us to do.

“How majestic is your name.” That’s the line that stands out, maybe because the psalm begins and ends with those same words. “How majestic is your name.” That sounds wonderful, indeed! Our opening hymn was written by Michael W. Smith, and we sang these exact words at the beginning of our service. And, the words sung by the angels, the seraphs flying around the heavenly temple in Isaiah 6 – they kept singing, kept repeating “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of God’s glory.”

            Over and over, the seraphs sang those words. And, it is sometimes in the singing and in the repetition that the majesty and awesomeness of God begins to make sense. I mean, as much as it can, to our puny, limited, human comprehension.

            The concept of the Trinity, one God, Three in One, is a difficult concept to start to believe, much less fully comprehend. For a small comparison, we can look at water. Water is liquid, at room temperature. Yet, when we freeze water, it turns hard. It becomes ice. Is it still water? Yes. And, when we heat up water, it turns into steam – becomes gaseous. Is it still water? Yes.

            This example of the three states of water is an imperfect way to talk about the Trinity. Yet, we can marvel at the awesome complexity of the doctrine of the Trinity just as we marvel at the glory and magnificence of our God and God’s creation, just as Psalm 8 leads us to do. Whether we sing about our awesome God, talk about the glory of God, or contemplate God and God’s magnificent creation, it’s all good. And, all these activities are exactly what we are led to do throughout the Bible, and especially here in Psalm 8.

            Looking to the skies and contemplating the glory of God may be a sincere way for people to begin to try to understand how huge God is. And, if we are coming at the theological concept of the Trinity – which is also a huge thought – perhaps it’s best for you and me to think about this huge thought from God’s end of things, from God’s point of view. Whether you and I “can fully grasp the nuanced theological understanding of what Trinity means, we can acknowledge that, in part, it means that God wants to be known and experienced by those who claim the majestic name of God as sovereign. We give thanks for an accessible God.” [2]

            I return to one of my tried and true ways of looking at biblical things, from a theological perspective. You all know that sometimes I view the topics or ideas from my sermons in a way that children see them, or in a way that young people more readily understand. Psalm 8 tells us about the wonders of God. Even little children can (and do) accept this as the truth of God! However, little children are definitely not interested in explaining how or why, or about lengthy sermons droning on about different theologians and their competing view on God and the Trinity.

            Very often, deep down, children understand that God made them and God loves them. This is a foundational truth! You and I can have – along with the children – a “simple” and “trusting” faith. We don’t need to use the “right” words in our prayers and creeds. Remember – God wants to be known by us, above all! And, our Lord wants to be experienced by all who claim the name of the majestic God. By those who praise God’s name.

            Yes, the theological understanding of the Trinity is also a deep theological truth. Yet – I can tell you right now that we as fallible, frail humans fall short of understanding God’s ways. I can also tell you that in the midst of everything, we can know we are loved. God wants each of us to know our Lord intimately! As my commentator the Rev. Dr. Derek Weber says, “We are being made more like the Christ we follow. Our love is being shaped by God’s love that is poured into us. We are God’s act of creation. That’s a part of the message of Trinity Sunday. The Creator works within us, choosing us to be a sign of God’s presence in the world.” [3]

            Yes, God’s message is quite simple. We can know we are loved by God. God wants each of us to know our Lord intimately! And, our awesome God works within each of us, choosing each of us to be a sign of God’s presence in the world. This is the best Good News we can bring to the world. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/04/year-c-trinity-sunday-may-22-2016.html

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/trinity-sunday-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes

[3] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/trinity-sunday-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/trinity-sunday-year-c-preaching-notes

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How Majestic is God’s Name!

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“How Majestic is God’s Name!”

Psalm 8 (8:4) – October 6, 2024

            How many here can think of a truly unforgettable experience you have had? Maybe going on vacation, and seeing an unforgettable sunset or rainbow? Or perhaps taking a trip to a National Park, and experiencing some unforgettable scenery, like a spectacular waterfall? Or maybe traveling by boat or ship and seeing unforgettable sea creatures, whales, or sea lions? The world is full of marvelous, unforgettable things, and God created them all!

            But, we can’t go on vacation every day. Very few of us are able to see marvelous scenery or go to exotic places on a regular basis In the every-day, ordinary kind of way, I wonder if you and I really think the world is majestic? Awesome? God has made the world, and I think the Lord has done a pretty good job. But, how many of us think the Lord is majestic? Awesome? I mean, on an every-day basis. Are we stunned, at a loss for words by the majesty of the Lord?

            Let’s hear how our psalm today starts, again. “Lord, our Lord,  how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” Wow! And, that is just the first verse! The Lord is OUR Lord, and the Lord’s name is majestic. Not just so-so, not pretty good, but majestic! Not to mention, the Lord has set glory and majesty in the heavens!

            I can see the stars on a clear night, but not quite as many here in Chicago as I can up in Wisconsin or in Michigan, far from the city. My husband Kevin spent two years in the mountains of Colorado, a number of years ago. He said the stars regularly put on an amazing display in the mountains, on a clear night. And, the moon, too! Truly majestic to see.

            Our psalmist marvels at the heavens, too – and more! “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

Our psalmist King David started out contemplating the heavens, and the awesome majesty of God. Now, he shifts to considering humanity. “In comparison to the grandeur of the universe, the psalmist questions why God would be mindful of humanity and care for them.” [1] Really, this is a valid question! After God created the heavens, and the stars and moons and all the other heavenly bodies, we humans are like grains of sand. Maybe even smaller, maybe microscopic. Who are we that God is even mindful, even aware of us? 

From time to time, maybe even more often than that, it is so easy to get caught up in the pressures and expectations of the world! You and I can know that very well. Such feelings of loneliness, insecurity and doubt can threaten to overwhelm us. Imagine, not being sure that we are worth anything, and feeling that we are like tiny grasshoppers or worms.

I don’t know about you, but just reading this description of humanity makes me feel so insignificant, especially in the face of such glory, such grandeur of all creation. However, isn’t this an opportunity to affirm, to witness to the blessed fact that this God who is described here by King David is also my God? In fact, our God?

            We have reassurance from King David! “Psalm 8 reminds us of our unique identity as children of God and the incredible value and purpose we have in Him. This psalm teaches us to look beyond ourselves and recognize the greatness of our Creator, who has entrusted us with the responsibility to care for [God’s] creation.” [2]

            Listen to the next verses of this psalm, and see how much trust the Lord gives to us, how much happiness and at the same time, responsibility: “5 You have made thema little lower than the angelsand crowned them with glory and honor 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:”

            How amazing that we – we puny humans – are crowned by God with glory and honor! And, that is all humanity we are talking about. Not just a few humans, not just the humans in our particular group or from our particular country. No! This psalm says ALL. Everyone. What a Godly proclamation to give each of us a worthy opinion of ourselves!

But wait, there’s more! God not only has made a royal proclamation that crowns all of us with glory and honor, the Lord has also made each of us heaven-appointed stewards of this marvelous world we all inhabit.

We all have a task to do, simply by nature of being born on this earth. Just as in the beginning of Genesis, Adam and Eve were assigned tasks by God to tend and keep the Garden of Eden, so with each person today. Whether we garden, or recycle and pick up trash, or choose responsibly-sourced food items and clothing, we all can be good stewards of this beautiful earth God has created for each of us and given us to live in.   
            One of my favorite people I follow on social media comes from the Peak District in northern England. She is a brilliant photographer of her native Peak district, and her handle is “Peaklass.” I love the description and the advice she gives: “In our rush through life, moving faster, working smarter, we miss so much. We miss the drift of seasons and the gentle ebb and flow of nature. We miss patterns, colours, changing light. We miss beauty and quiet. Sometimes we all need to stop and just watch the clouds roll.” [3]

            This psalm ends as it begins, “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Can you think of a more wonderful praise and prayer to our God than to enjoy the beauty and majesty of God’s creation, today? Yes, God’s name is majestic in all the earth! Each of us can stop where we are today, and praise God for all creation, all creatures great and small.  

            Two days ago was the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi; many faith traditions celebrate with a Blessing of the Animals this weekend. St. Francis is not only a patron saint of animals, he is also the patron of all creation, or the natural world. I want to end today with a benediction, a verse from the hymn that is attributed to Francis, “All Creatures of Our God and King.”

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship Him in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

            O, let us praise God, indeed! Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://youthgroupministry.com/lessons/youth-ministry-lesson-on-psalm-8-embracing-our-identity-in-christ/

[2] Ibid.

[3] https://x.com/peaklass1/status/1842835391595905259/photo/1

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Finding God’s Majestic Name!

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“Finding God’s Majestic Name!”

Psalm 8:1-9 (8:1) – October 3, 2021

            Have you ever been far from the city lights, at night? Have you ever looked up into the sky, and seen countless stars spread out, twinkling high above? I have. When I went to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and again in rural central Indiana, the starry skies were absolutely breathtaking. Amazing. Majestic, as the psalmist King David said in our Psalm reading today.

            Listen again: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” I can just imagine King David sitting far away from the lights of the city of Jerusalem, perhaps contemplating the stars as he saw them in his youth, when he looked after his father’s sheep, or as a younger adult, a leader of men in the wilderness of Judah,. David certainly had many opportunities to gaze up into the night skies and see the breathtaking stars.

            I needed to take two science classes in college, for my undergraduate degree. I was happy to take a biology course, and I enjoyed it! But, I wanted to take something different for my second science course. A quirky but popular teacher also taught science – he taught astronomy! I don’t remember many facts from that class, but I remember him. I remember how excited he was about his subject, and how much he tried to make the course material interesting and accessible to his students. I have always had a warm spot inside for stars, for star-gazing and the moon and other planets, both before and ever since.

            When King David wrote this psalm, he used words like “majestic” and “awesome.” Can you remember when everything was “awesome?” “In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, the word “awesome” was overused and abused. Everything was “awesome.” Events and people were awesome. God was awesome.” [1] Now, some years later, I am relieved to find this word is not so misused. However, God has not changed. God certainly is still truly awesome. Majestic, too.

            We can see King David had great awe and godly fear for the Lord his God. Just look at the language he uses! The opening verses of Psalm 8 has royal language all over the place. The very words “Lord” and “Sovereign” are used in conversation with a king in other places in Scripture, too. We can see that usage from both 1 and 2 Kings. These books of the Hebrew Scriptures use these expressions interchangeably for the king of Judah and the king of Israel.  

            When King David praises the majesty of God’s name, this also points to a royal understanding of God. The territory over which God reigns is not a small, limited region, but instead “all the earth.” [2] Yet, Dr. Elizabeth Webb makes a point of saying that even though David leads off this psalm with such huge, overarching thoughts, he then turns to humanity. Yes, God is Sovereign! Majestic! Awesome! The ultimate Godly authority! But, then, the earth is full of mere people. Frail humanity. Here one minute, and gone the next.

            “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” When we consider limited humans on a scale like that, with a cosmic Sovereign as vast as the heavens, how miniscule are we? How frail and short-lasting?

“Psalm 144:3-4, for example, begins with a similar question: “O Lord, what are human beings that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them?” In Psalm 144 it is human frailty that makes God’s interest in us almost incomprehensible: “They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.” What concern could God possibly have with frail beings that are here one moment, gone the next?” [3] Truly something to wonder about. I have thought about it, from time to time. How can God concern Godself with me? With my trials or troubles, with God being so huge?

In Psalm 8, what the writer finds so wondrous is that the very God who established the order of the heavens actually cares for human beings, for us, for you and me. Listen to verse 4 again: “what is humankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

If I did not believe that God was loving and caring, full of chesed, full of magnificent lovingkindness, I might really give up. Why should I even try to communicate with a faraway, distant, uncaring God, who would just as soon squash me like a bug? That’s even considering whether that cold and distant God even saw me crawling around on the earth?

Except, we know that God is not that way! Instead, our Lord is full of the attributes grace, mercy, love and chesed, shown in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We are here in church today to celebrate World Communion Sunday, a day when the Church worldwide celebrates the unity of the blessed Eucharist, that Lord’s Supper that believers all over the world celebrate in a variety of different languages, but proclaiming the same Lord. Thank God our Lord is a loving and caring God. Thank God our Lord is full of that magnificent, majestic attribute chesed, full of lovingkindness.

Here we are: frail, earthly human beings. Our God truly welcomes all of us as God’s children. Our God welcomes us at the Lord’s Table, especially on this World Communion Sunday. Can you praise the name of the Lord? Can you bless God for the profound, awesome gifts you have been given?   

“O LORD, our LORD, your majestic name fills the earth. Your glory is higher than
the heavens…! We are blessed to be able to offer God our worship and praise!
In speechless and awed worship, we marvel at God’s holy presence with us,
as we contemplate all that God has given to us! We are all so very blessed! Amen. [4]

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/Psalms/8.html

“Our God Is Awesome!” Larry Broding’s Word-Sunday.Com: A Lectionary Resource for Catholics.

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/the-holy-trinity/commentary-on-psalm-8-10

[3] Ibid.

[4] http://www.thetimelesspsalms.net/w_resources/pentecost1a_2017.htm

The Timeless Psalms: Psalm 8, Joan Stott, prayers and meditations based on lectionary Psalms, 2017.