Extraordinary God Of Ordinary Man Series

I recently read about an old man, walking the beach at dawn, who noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea.

Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. T

His answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.

"But the beach goes on for miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish," countered the man. "How can your effort make any difference?"

The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves. "It makes a difference to this one," he said.

1. Introduction

A. Sometimes we think that what we do doesn’t amount to much.

01. We wonder if anyone even notices us, or would miss us if we weren’t in the room

02. Some folks even get to wondering if God stills notices them; they feel unimportant

03. We feel insignificant; how can God notice me? I’m no one special…

04. When David considered the majesty of God, he felt insignificant too

05. Like the young man throwing starfish back into the sea…seems like a meaningless task, yet how important he was to the one whose life he saved!

B. In Psalm 8, David marvels that the glorious Lord of heaven, whose name is excellent, should graciously use people in the earth’s dominion.

01. This passage considers the dignity of mankind as God’s representatives on earth

2. Scripture Text: Psalm 8

A. THE LORD’S MAJESTY (v. 1)

01. David knows God; he calls Him YAHWEH (O LORD), then ADONAY (OUR LORD)

a) The Sovereign, or Master over all creation

02. Set your glory…above the heavens

a) Can’t you just imagine David lying on the ground on a dark, starry night; looking up at the stars in the heavens, and considering the God that made it all

(1) One of my favorite things when I was a boy…something we lose as we grow older, is our FASCINATION WITH God. We love, revere, respect and fear; but are we still fascinated by Him?

(2) David was fascinated with his Lord. He hadn’t outgrown it.

B. THE LORD’S STRENGTH (v. 2)

01. God uses the strength of CHILDREN to silence His enemies

a) So powerful, he needs only man to represent Him on earth. Mankind, even children and infants represent the strength of God

b) God has ordained that the weak shall confound the strong (1 Cor. 1:27)

02. David understood that HIS WEAKNESS became GODS’ STRENGTH

03. In our weakness, God uses us too. In fact, God gets the best results from us when we are at our weakest! It’s then that we don’t interfere with His plan.

C. THE LORD’S CREATION (vv. 3-8)

01. We’re back to David lying on the ground, staring at the heavens

02. He is overwhelmed that God would entrust such a marvelous creation to man, who is here today and gone tomorrow

03. What is “man”? The Hebrew word used here is e-nos, (mortal, weak man)

a) This rhetorical question emphasizes the insignificance of man in the scope of Gods’ creation. YET GOD CARES FOR HIM IMMENSELY!

04. David is amazed that God would elevate finite man to such a high position (v.5)

05. (6-8) A final reflection on man’s position as Gods’ representative on earth.

a) All things under his feet; even the least important efforts of man are important to God

D. THE LORD’S MAJESTY (v. 9)

01. David concludes with the same expression of praise for his Lord (ADONAY)

02. He accepts that while he is finite in the universe, he is CHERISHED BY HIS God

03. Even the insignificant are significant in Gods’ eyes

a) We are his creation; his delight; his representatives on the earth

04. The next time you feel unimportant or insignificant, REMEMBER HOW God THINKS OF YOU!

Charles Eliet had a problem.

He had a contract to build an engineering marvel-a suspension bridge over the Niagra River.

But he had no way of stretching his first cable between the shores.

Any boat that tried to cross the falls would be swept over. Then Eliet hit on an idea.

If a kite carrying a cord could be flown across the river, the cord could then be used to pull larger cables across.

So Eliet announced a kite-flying contest, and a young man named Homan Walsh responded.

On Walsh’s first attempt the kite’s cord broke when it caught in the river’s ice, but on his next try he succeeded in flying his kite to the opposite shore of the river.

The vital link was established, and the bridge built.

Because someone knew how to do something as insignificant as flying a kite.