Christ Church Daily Devotion Jan 31 2024

The Daily Devotion for January 31st, 2024 focuses on Psalm chapter 8. The psalmist praises God's greatness and wonders why God cares for humans. The psalmist emphasizes that God has given humans the responsibility to care for creation. The psalmist also highlights the sense of community and encourages readers to consider the greater community when praying. The psalmist asks how our prayers would change if we kept the needs of others in mind. Welcome to Christ Church's Daily Devotion for January 31st, 2024. Today, we will be reading from Psalm chapter 8. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 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? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands. You put everything under their feet, all flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! I was first introduced to the timeless truth of this psalm in high school choir. The lines of the anthem echoed in a very formal style. The words form verses four through five from the King James Version. What is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visiteth him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and has crowned him with glory and honor. In later years, Linda Lee Johnson wrote the words and Tom Fetke composed the music for a similar choir anthem, The Majesty and Glory of Your Name. The first line begins, When I gaze into the night sky and see the work of your fingers, the moon and stars suspended in space, but what is man that you are mindful of him? This psalm is a foundational and centering scripture passage. It continues to offer new understandings each time we read it. The psalmist writes from his own perspective and from an understanding that he is a part of God's greater creation and community. He gives his readers then and now perspective on who God is, who we are, and on the incredible grace of the relationship God extends toward all of humankind. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, this is the psalmist's incredible description of God. And within this perspective, then he asks, what is man? Thankfully, the psalmist offers the surprise response to his own question. God is mindful of humankind and is not only mindful, but cares for humankind. God not only cares, but he has given humankind the responsibility to join God in caring for all God has created. The last verse repeats the first verse of praise. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. The psalmist weaves in with one simple word, the sense of community. Our Lord, we hear Jesus echo this understanding in the prayer he taught his disciples. Our Father, give us our daily bread. Forgive us as we forgive, lead us, deliver us. There is more of a community mindset. The psalmist keeps in mind that he is a part of a greater community who belongs to God. Your personal worship option today is, how would the words of our prayers change if we keep the greater community in mind when we pray? How might God open our eyes and ears to see and hear the cries of others as we pray?