The secret of living life well (Psalm 8)
Ps 8:1-9
The beginning of the year is the time for making New Year’s resolutions but unless we reflect on the deeper causes for what we want to change and why, we are likely to repeat the same mistakes and re-live the old patterns. What is the secret of living life well? Perhaps the most fundamental aspect of our motivation in how we live is our sense of identity, where we derive our worth from. Many in the secular world struggle with this but Christians are not immune to it either. Some feel the weight of proving their worth through advancing in their career or getting a higher degree. There is pressure around us to look more youthful and, sometimes in a church context, it is being married or having children that confers status on individuals. While we may have a fragile sense of self, we are also bombarded with slogans like ‘we are worth it’, that we are entitled to happiness, health and so on. Even Christians can subconsciously endorse these messages and feel rage against God for the adversity they have to face. Thus, it can be useful to remind ourselves and re-align our identity with how God sees us.
God’s character and His shocking ways
The psalm opens with God’s name (Yahweh, usually rendered LORD; Ps 8:1), a pointer towards His character, revealed to Moses before the exodus (Exod 3:13-14) and forever after associated with His saving grace.[1] This gracious God is also majestic, reflected in the splendour of the created world and the vastness of the sky (v.1). Given God’s immense power, it is shocking that He deals with His ‘adversaries’, those who rebel against His authority and depend on their strength, by using vulnerable babies (Ps 8:2)! Is this not nonsense? How could such little ones do anything? The point is that they call on God for help (it is from their mouth that strength is established; v.2). They know their weakness but acknowledge the Lord’s power and rely on Him. God’s power is so great that He can even use the helpless to destroy the power of the self-reliant mighty, which is the very logic of the cross (1 Cor 1:18-31).
Insignificant but endowed with honour
The second part of the psalm develops this theme from the human perspective. Looking at the vast night sky, created merely by God’s fingers (!), we are aware of our smallness and insignificance (Ps 8:3-4). Yet, negligible as we may feel, our gracious God takes note and cares for us (v.4). Moreover, weak as we are, He makes us kings to rule over creation (Ps 8:5-8; Gen 1:27-28)! In the ancient Near East, kings bore the image of (i.e. represented) their god, much like company representatives today might carry the logo and image of the company and act on the latter’s behalf. However, the rest of humanity were seen as slaves to the gods providing them with food and drink (via sacrifices). What a difference biblical understanding makes, where all human beings (male and female) are image-bearing rulers and hence are placed only a little lower than God Himself (v.5)![2] This is not a permission for exploitation, however, because our ‘rule’ must reflect God’s. In creation, God provides His creatures with living space and food; He comes (unlike other gods) not to be served but to serve (Mk 10:45) and this is the pattern that we must follow.
Humility and dignity
The Bible then gives us a very different perspective on our identity and worth and on the secret of how to live life well. We are indeed insignificant in ourselves, weak and vulnerable like babies. This gives us a proper perspective and humility. What we have is received from the Creator, not earned or achieved but a gift of provision from our Maker. We are not entitled to anything and can make no demands. Yet this also frees us up because our worth does not rest on what we do, which would create tremendous pressure to perform and what if we failed? Rather, God has bestowed dignity on us and has given us purpose. When we depend on Him, we have resources far beyond what we are capable of. As we look to the New Year, may we serve Him in humility (knowing our weakness) and dignity (knowing our worth).
[1] The name Yahweh is thought to be derived from the verb haya (‘to be’). It could refer to God as the One who exists (the ‘I AM’). The reference to ‘I am who I am’ may mean that God is inscrutable and cannot be known though this is less likely because God generally desires to reveal Himself to His people. Since the Hebrew is an imperfect, which tends to be used for the future tense, the phrase could be rendered ‘I will be who I will be’. If so, then it could mean that God will show His character through the future events of the exodus as powerful Saviour.
[2] The Hebrew here is elohim, which can mean God, gods or heavenly beings/angels. While many translations render this ‘little lower than angels’ (including the ancient Greek translation, the Septuagint), this seems to be an attempt to minimise the almost blasphemous nature of such a statement that we could be compared to God. Nevertheless, it is more likely that the psalmist meant ‘God’ here. The background to the psalm is Genesis 1 that says nothing about angels, so their mention in the psalm would feel intrusive. Moreover, the whole point of this comparison of our smallness to the enormous dignity we were given is its very audacity! It is quite as shocking as saying that God can demolish the arrogance of those who rebel and reject God by using suckling babies!
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