July 10, 2015
The psalmist David wondered at the immensity and beauty of the night sky in comparison to the small stature of humanity. He posed a rhetorical question concerning God’s care for man, then answers it in the psalm with observations about man’s creation and authority under God. We can almost picture David gazing at the night sky and writing this meditation. Putting the words to music, he opened and closed the psalm with praise of God’s majesty. “O Lord, our Lord,” he wrote, moving attention from the great Creator (O Lord) to the personal Redeemer of Israel (our Lord). For the Lord God is both transcendent and immanent. He is omnipotent and holy, yet personal and present. The God who made everything cares for you.
July 10, 2014
The psalmist David wondered at the immensity and beauty of the night sky in comparison to the small stature of humanity. He poses a rhetorical question concerning God’s care for man, then answers it in the psalm with observations about man’s creation and authority under God. We can almost picture David gazing at the night sky and writing this meditation. Putting the words to music, he opens and closes the psalm with praise of God’s majesty. “O Lord, our Lord,” he writes, moving his attention from the great Creator (O Lord) to the personal Redeemer of Israel (our Lord). For the Lord God is both transcendent and immanent. He is omnipotent and holy, yet personal and present. The God who made everything cares for you.
January 8, 2013
David addresses this psalm to both the Transcendent Ruler of all the earth, as well as the Immanent Lover of his soul. “O LORD (יְהוָ֤ה Yahweh) meaning “I AM,” a name so holy that the scribes washed their hands before writing it. And “our Lord” (אֲדֹנֵ֗ינוּ Adonenu, from Adonai), the title the Hebrews used to call upon the One who had made them His chosen ones. Jesus follows this prayer formula in His model prayer, yet reverses the order, revealing an even more personal name (“Our Father” personal/close) in the first place and retaining the idea of transcendence (“which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”) in the second. We learn much about God from both of these prayers, but Jesus alone gives us the right to pray to Him as “our Father.”
July 10, 2011
Even though God is great, He has chosen little children to praise Him. He has ordained that the weak would silence the strength of His enemies. He laughs at those we consider great and bends His ear to a child’s praise. Teach your children to praise the Lord, your grandchildren to lift up His name.