Thanks-Living

Thanks-Living

Psalm 8

Introduction

What do you have to be thankful for?

In the past couple of years, some of my Facebook friends have used the month of November to describe something they are thankful for each day in the month.  30 days of giving thanks.

I think this is a good practice for all people, but this ought to be a way of life for Christians.  Instead of being complainers and grumblers, we ought to let the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts and the statuses on our Facebook pages be positive statements of praise.

Ultimately, being thankful is an expression of praise.  It is impossible to be thankful for without also being thankful to.  We are thankful for the blessings in our lives.  But, we are thankful to the One who has given us these blessings.  Like we read in the New Testament Book of James, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1: 17 NIV)…”

For the rest of this month, my sermons will focus on Thanks-Living…Living a life of thanksgiving to God for all that God has done for us.  We begin by giving thanks to God for creating us and giving us a meaningful life.

Psalm 8: 1 – 9.

Psalm 8: 1 – 2…  1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Notice that the word “Lord” is used twice in verse one.  The first use of “Lord” is spelled in all capital letters…L-O-R-D.  In the Old Testament, this is the way all English translations render the Hebrew word Yahweh, the personal name for God.  This is the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.  God called Moses and sent him to rescue God’s people from slavery in Egypt.  Moses asked who was sending him.  God answered “I Am.”  The Hebrew name Yahweh is derived from the Hebrew word Hayah, which means “I Am.”  This name is only used to refer to the One True God of Israel.

The second use of “Lord” is not written in all capital letters.  In Hebrew, this is the word “Adonai.”  Adonai can refer to the One True God, or it can refer to a human master.  It indicates someone who is the lord, the master or ruler of another person.

So, Psalm 8 begins with a profession of faith…Yahweh is our sovereign Lord.  He is the ruler of Heaven and Earth.  All of the earth should recognize that God is the Lord.  His glory can be seen in his created works.  His praise can be heard even from the lips of children and infants.

Psalm 8: 3 – 5…  3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

There is no biblical story associated with this Psalm.  However, we can figure out the context from what is written in verses 3 – 4.  These verses describe a familiar scene.  The Psalmist is looking at the vastness of space.  He is probably sitting outside at night, looking up at the stars and the moon.  And while he is sitting there, he begins to feel small and insignificant.

Did you see the full moon this week?  Did it make you feel small? While driving my children to school one morning, I noticed the full moon in the blue sky.  It was big and bright and 238,900 miles away!

Did you feel how hot it was during the day this week?  Did it make you feel small?  We got close to 90 degrees in the first week of November.  That heat comes from a sun that is 93 million miles away from earth!

The Psalmist did not know everything we know today about the universe and the way it works.  But, he knew enough to feel small.  All he knew was that God had created a wonderful and beautiful and infinitely huge creation.  He knew that he was only a part of all God had created.

With all of our scientific discovery and easy access to knowledge, this is something that we still have a difficult time acknowledging.  We know that the moon is 238,900 miles away.  We know that the sun is 93 million miles away.  But, we still think we are the center of the universe.  We think of ourselves as the most brilliant mind in the universe…When, in reality, we are not the creators of the universe.  We are merely a part of God’s creation.  We have never actually created anything by our own power or intellect.

When the Psalmist realized how small he truly is and that he is only one part of God’s vast creation, he expressed an existential crisis.  He asked the question, “What is man?”

I think it is important to note that he did not ask, “WHO is man?” or even “WHO am I?”  This is a very impersonal question…What is a human being?

There are several ways we can answer this impersonal question.  A human being is an animal life form.  A human being is a complex organism made up of atoms, cells and molecules which have to be in perfect balance in order for life to exist.  A human being is a body with many different parts and internal organs linked together by blood vessels and nerves.  But, none of these answers are satisfying.

A human being is creation of God.  In the story of creation, the human beings were God’s final creations.  They were not created in the same way as the other created beings. 

One difference is that human beings were the only created beings which were not created by God’s spoken word.  God spoke, and there was light and dark, sun and moon, earth and water, plants and animals…  But, when God created human beings, God stooped down and got his hands dirty.  He took dirt and shaped it into a man.  He took a rib and used it to build a woman.  Human beings were personally and intimately made by God’s hands.

Another difference is the fact that God created human beings (both male and female) in the image of God.  Another way to say this is to quote Psalm 8:5, “You created him a little lower that the ‘heavenly beings’…”

Technically, the Hebrew word here is the word Elohim, the plural form of the word El.  A simple translation of El is god.  A simple translation of Elohim is gods.  However, the Old Testament rarely uses the singular El to refer to the One True God.  More commonly, it refers to God as Elohim, in the plural. 

I believe the best way to interpret this phrase is to say that God has created human beings a little lower than himself.  We have been created in the image of God, but we are not God…We are not even little gods.  You may be small, but you are special to God.

Instead, we have been created by God and given a responsibility to work alongside God in God’s creation…

Psalm 8: 6 – 8…  6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Human beings have a higher status than anything else in creation.  But, we need to recognize something about our status.  Our status in creation is a derived status.

In verse five, we read that God has “crowned us with glory and honor.”  In verse six, we read that God “made us rulers” and “put everything under our feet.”  This is royal language and should make us think of God as the ultimate King of the created order.  God, as King, has assigned us a royal responsibility to serve as his representative in creation.  Human beings are not the ultimate King.  But, we do have a royal assignment from the King.

God has made human beings the rulers over flocks and herds (domesticated animals), wild animals which can be tamed and wild animals which cannot be tamed.

As we think of humanity as “ruler” over creation, we need to keep in mind God’s intention for rulers.  Worldly rulers wield power over their subjects in order to promote themselves and to keep other people in subjection.  Godly rulers use power selflessly in order to serve other people and to meet their needs.

When we apply this to humanity’s relationship to creation we can talk about the biblical view of dominion.  In the creation story, God created humanity and gave them dominion over creation.  Dominion is not the same thing as domination.

Some people think humanity is supposed to dominate creation by exploiting the earth to the point of using up all natural resources.

Dominion is more like stewardship.  It is recognizing that the creation does not belong to us.  It belongs to God.  God has entrusted the creation into our hands.  We are to use God’s creation, to enjoy God’s creation and to take care of God’s creation by making sure that future generations can also use and enjoy God’s creation.

If we think of ourselves as stewards or caretakers of God’s creation, then we can affirm two things about God.  First, God has created us—he has given us life.  Second, God has provided for our needs through his creation.

Conclusion—Psalm 8: 9…  9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8 ends exactly the same way it began…O LORD, our Lord…  These are the same words we read at the beginning of the Psalm.  But, they sound a little different now.

The LORD, Yahweh, is the Creator of Heaven and earth.  The LORD, Yahweh, has created you and provided for all of your needs.  The LORD, Yahweh, wants to be your Lord—your ruler, your master, the leader of your life.

This is true Thanksgiving, or Thanks-Living.  The only way to live a Thanks-Living life is to recognize that you are not God and to give yourself to the One who has created you and provided for all your needs.

God has met all our physical needs through creation.  It is our responsibility to be caretakers / stewards of God’s creation.

God has met all our spiritual needs through his Son, Jesus.  The Creator God has not left us to figure things out for ourselves.  He loved us so much that he has actually pursued us.  He demonstrated his love for us through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  Now, he invites each of us to enter into a proper relationship of Creator and creation.