“Who Am I?”
Psalm 8:1-9
David P. Nolte
The philosopher Immanuel Kant's lifelong research revolved around four questions: “Who am I?” “What am I?” “What can I do?” “What can I know?” The questions which he said were unanswerable were: "Who am I?" and "What am I?”
“Who am I? Moses asked it; David asked it, and we all ought to ask it from the “mininess of man” reference point of David when he considered the magnitude of God and the incredible wonder of creation.
Throughout the ages people have asked the question, “Who am I?” Many people do not know who they are or why they exist. They try all sorts of philosophies, treatments, religions and drugs to find themselves. It’s like when a young man with an Afro the size of a haystack and a beard like a caveman went to the barber. He was so buried in facial hair his eyes looked like two raisins in a bush. He told the barber he was getting a haircut and beard trim to “find himself.” The barber sheared him and, Voila! There he was.
Many believe the lies. “You are what you look like.” “You are what you own.” “You’re an animal with free-will.” “You are a zero, a nothing.” “You are a victim of circumstances.” “You are a loser.”
Paul posed the question in his song;
“When I think of how He came so far from glory
Came to dwell among the lowly such as I
To suffer shame and such disgrace
On Mount Calvary take my place
Then I ask myself this question
Who am I?”
David pondered the enormous work of God and the comparative insignificance of man and wrote these words: “ O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the Earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the Earth!” Psalm 8:1-9 (NASB).
The phrase, “What is man?” is generic for, “Who am I?”
I. WHO AM I THAT GOD WOULD TAKE THOUGHT OF ME?
A. Compared to the heavens, the moon and stars, what is this little scintilla of a speck called man?
1. With so much on His mind how could He even remember me?
2. The Message puts it like his: “I look up at Your macro-skies, dark and enormous, Your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, ‘Why do You bother with us? Why take a second look our way?’” Psalm 8:3-4 (MSG).
3. Yet God gives us more than a passing acknowledgment – He concentrates on us – He dotes on us.
B. What are God’s thought of us? Jeremiah tells us: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV).
1. Thoughts of peace, but not as the world defines peace.
a. Peace of mind and heart.
b. Peace with God.
2. Thoughts of good not evil.
a. Not the kind of evil that is sinful or morally wrong.
b. Evil meaning harm or disaster or calamity.
3. Thoughts for a future.
a. Future meaning “a longed for, and desirable, end.”
b. Our assured hope is that, “The best is yet to be!”
C. You can understand God’s thoughts about us best by putting yourself in the place of God the Father and putting your children in the place of Israel.
1. What are your thoughts about your offspring?
2. What are your desires for them?
3. What kind of future do you envision?
D. The 103rd Psalm gives us insight into God’s thoughts about, and attitude toward, us: “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in loving-kindness. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the Earth, So great is His loving-kindness toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.” Psalm 103:8-14 (NASB).
1. Gracious compassionate thoughts.
2. Forgiving, not angry and grudging, thoughts.
3. Understanding and sympathetic thoughts.
E. What God thinks of us is more important than what we think of ourselves or what others think of us. Let me illustrate. In Zechariah, we read, “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. The LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ Again he said to him, ‘See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.’ Then I said, ‘Let them put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the LORD was standing by.” Zechariah 3:1-5 (NASB). Though Satan and every demon in hell thought Joshua should be condemned, what God thought trumped it. He was on Joshua’s side – and He is on our side. He thinks we are worth saving.
BUT, WHO AM I THAT GOD WOULD TAKE THOUGHT OF ME? AND:
II. WHO AM I THAT GOD WOULD CARE FOR ME?
A. What is man that God would care? Jesus was the first to prove that God cares for us.
1. The Greek concept of God was that they were more interested in their own concerns than in the good of humanity.
2. The Jewish concept of Jehovah was that He is. unapproachable and terrifying and transcendent.
3. The Deist’s concept of God was that He is uninvolved with mankind or even with creation as a whole.
4. Jesus taught us that God is Father! He loves; He cares; He helps!
B. How does He show His care? The KJV says He “visits” us, which gives insight.
1. That word , “visit,”means a lot more than dropping by for a chat and chew.
2. To visit means to draw near to give assistance, succor, or whatever we need.
3. John wrote, “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.” 1 John 4:9 (NLT).
C. Paul’s song said,
“Who am I that The King would bleed and die for?
Who am I that He would pray not my will, Thy Lord?
The answer I may never know
Why He ever loved me so,
But to that old rugged cross He'd go
For who am I?”
D. God cares for you! "Do not fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will renew you in His love; He will exult over you with loud singing as on a day of festival.” Zephaniah 3:16-18 (RSV).
1. We are so precious to Him that He exults over us.
2. He celebrates us!
3. He enjoys us!
4. But the question remains, “Who am I that He should care?”
E. Preacher Fred Sigle told this story as an object lesson of God’s care. He told about Giles Tate, a brother in Christ from Amarillo, Texas, who saw two children playing in a vacant lot. They were dirty, ragged, and hungry looking. He stopped his car and asked where they lived. They pointed to an old abandoned school bus standing near the alley. They told Giles that they lived their with their Dad who was very sick.
Giles went into see what he could do for the children’s dad an saw that all the windows were out and cardboard was substituted. Beds were made of old, decaying seats, newspapers, and weeds. It was a pathetic sight.
The children’s father was too weak to stand. Giles took him to the hospital. It was determined that the man had tuberculosis. He was put into a hospital room and quarantined. Giles committed himself to pay for the man’s medical expenses.
Giles took the children to his home and continued to visit the man. Since he couldn’t go into the room, he stood outside and talked through the window screen. One day the man asked Giles why did he care so much. Giles simply answered, “Because Jesus cares for me.” When the man was finally well enough to leave the hospital, he requested that Giles baptize him into Christ. He learned that God does care.
BUT, WHO AM I THAT GOD WOULD CARE FOR ME? And,
III. WHO AM I THAT GOD WOULD TRUST ME?
A. David wrote, “You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.”
1. That’s a lot of trust to put in us!
2. But trust is not only a privilege, it is a responsibility, a stewardship we call ecology.
3. When we see polluted areas we think “How can anyone just toss their rubbish? In one Peruvian city the streets were covered with litter and even human waste! The authorities placed pictures of Jesus and Mary on the walls of buildings because the people of Peru are, on the whole, Roman Catholic and the authorities have found that people are far less likely to litter the streets under the gaze of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. We need to remember that God is watching how we treat His creation.
B. Now, I’m for recycling, conservation and good stewardship of the Earth’s resources. But
1. I am not an Earth worshiper
2. The world is not my mother.
3. God put the world and its creatures here for the good of man, not the other was around.
C. But, God has entrusted us with the care of this part of His creation; He owns it – we manage it – and He trusts us to do it well.
D. But, the greatest trust is His leaving the spread of the gospel in our hands. Let us be faithful.
E. A girl entered a little country church out of curiosity. There she heard the gospel for the first time and was converted. She later heard God's call on her life to go to China as a missionary. She was the only daughter of a multi-millionaire and was socially prominent. But her parents were not Christians. When she told them of her decision to go to the mission field, they sneered at the very thought.
She was engaged to a prominent businessman—but he was not a Christian either. When she talked with him about giving his life to Christ, he took a negative stand.
Her parents hosted a social event and invited their wealthy friends. They told these friends of their daughter's intentions and enlisted their help to change her mind. During the evening the daughter listened to all their arguments against going to the mission field.
Finally, she walked over to the piano and began to play and sing: "Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow Thee, destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be."
Her fiancé was touched by her action. He walked over to her and said, "If He means that much to you, please help me know Him as well."
They were married and BOTH went to China. They labored there for many years
And so today Jesus is depending on us to take reasonable care of the Earth and its inhabitants. More importantly He is trusting us to spread His message of love mercy and compassion and to make the Father’s name known to the whole world. e are all He has to do His work on Earth. Let us not fail Him. PRAY
When you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, you have the answer to “Who am I?” You are a gospel called, grace through faith saved, baptized and born-again child of the Living God, a member of His household, precious and beloved .
To make that possible, you are included in the invitation, “Whosoever will may come.” Come and find your identity in Jesus.
