Who Am I? (Psalm 8)

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WHO AM I?

Scott R. Bayles, preacher

First Christian Church, Rosiclare, IL

A few years ago, one of my favorite Christian music groups, Casting Crowns, had a hit song titled Who Am I? In the opening verse the lead singer, Mark Hall, asks:

“Who am I that the Lord of all the Earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt? Who am I that the Bright and Morning Star would choose to light the way for my ever-wondering heart? Not because of who I am, but because of what You’ve done. Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who You are! I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind. Still You hear when I’m calling, You catch me when I’m falling and You tell me who I am—I am Yours. I am Yours!”

The message of that song—plainly and powerfully conveyed—is that no matter how small or insignificant you may feel, the Lord of all the Earth not only knows your name, but has made you special and calls you His own.

A long time ago, in land far, far away, another great song writer wrote a similar hymn with the same message. When David considered the majesty and greatness of God, he felt insignificant by comparison. In Psalm 8, David stands in awe of the majesty of the Lord. And when he realizes just how vast and magnificent God truly is, he’s even more amazed that God would take the time to notice him—a mere mortal man. Rather than simply reading this Scripture, let me invite you to watch and listen. I think this video clip does a wonderful job of visualizing this inspired hymn:

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of 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 man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1-9 NIV)

“This psalm,” some once noted, “is an unsurpassed example of what a hymn should be, celebrating as it does the glory and grace of God, rehearsing who He is and what He has done, and relating us and our world to Him... in a spirit of mingled joy and awe.”

In this beautiful expression of praise to God, David stands amazed that the God of creation, the great and glorious Yahweh, would pay attention to the frail people of earth. That God should focus attention and lavish His love on us is proof of our dignity as creatures made in the image of God. We discover our true value and worth only when we make God the reference point of our lives. In other words, you matter because you matter to God. Apart from knowing God, we have no understanding of who we really are or what role we’re supposed to play in this great universe. But, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, David reveals three wonderful truths that declare both the intrinsic value of humanity and the awesome majesty of God. The first truth is that you are created by God.

• CREATED BY GOD

David was mesmerized by the majesty of God, writing, “I look at your heavens, which you made with your fingers. I see the moon and stars, which you created.” (vs. 3 NCV). Scientist and philosophers have long debated and discussed the origin of the universe, but Bible-believing Christians have known all along that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Sir Isaac Newton was a very famous mathematician and scientist who strongly believed in God. However, he had a very close friend who did not believe in God, so Sir Isaac devised a plan to try to convince his friend that God did exist and had created the Universe. One day, he went to a carpentry shop and asked the owner to make a model of our solar system. This model was to be made to scale, intricately painted, and designed to resemble, as closely as possible, the actual solar system.