By The Rev. Ron Purkey
Guest Columnist

Read Psalm 8

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him… ? (Psalm 8:3-4a)

The Rev. Ron Purkey

Imagine the scene. Here is young David out under the stars at night watching his sheep. The stars were brilliant, and the moon, in its full phase, was crossing the heavens.

He felt, as we have all felt as we have stood under the stars at night, something of mingled mystery and awe as he looked up into the star-spangled heavens.

He considered the beauty of nature and its silent witness to the wisdom of God. All the breath-taking beauty of this scene broke upon his eyes as the sun set. He was astonished at the greatness of a God who could create such things.

Centuries later after King David wrote these words, we feel the same awe when we consider the starry heavens. Astronauts have been physically able to walk on the same moon that David could observe only from a distance, yet all the knowledge that has been gained about the universe in which we live only serves to deepen our impression of the tremendous wisdom and power of God. How vast is the universe in which we live!

These billions of galaxies whirl in their silent courses through the deepness of space. How tremendous is the power that sustains it all and keeps it operating as one harmonious unit! That is what impressed this psalmist.

‘What is man,” he asks, in the sight of a God who could make a universe like this? You will recognize that this is the question that cries for an answer in our day too.

What are humans? Where did they come from? What is their purpose here? Why do they exist on this small planet in this vast universe? These are the questions that are being asked more and more.

David goes on to answer his own question: “You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor (Psalm 8:5).”

Man has a unique relationship to God. He was made to be a little less than God. What is included in that remarkable expression is the revelation of God’s purpose for man.

According to the Bible, God made man to be the expression of God’s life, the human vehicle of the divine life, the means by which the invisible God would be made visible to his creatures.

Man was to be the instrument by which God would do his work in the world and the expression of the character and being of God. He is the creature nearest to God. There is none other nearer, for God himself was to live in man. That is the revelation of the Bible. Man is such a unique being, such a remarkable being, that God himself intends to live in him to be the glory of man’s life.

Read Ron Purkey’s Bible study outlines free at rcpbibleoutlines.com. Purkey has been an ordained Baptist minister for 50 years.