The Majesty of Jesus

 

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at 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, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion 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 along the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:1-9 ESV).

 

Our reading today declares the majesty of the Lord. The writer celebrates the glory of God. Look at the night sky, says this psalm. Moon, stars, galaxies. Vast beyond imagining! It all reflects the glory of God. And it reminds us how small we are. Not that we need a reminder. Lose your job, and you feel small. Fail at marriage, and you feel puny. Fall into depression, and you feel like nothing at all. But there is more to being human than being small. This psalm says that God made us just a little lower than the angels, and that God has given us special glory and honor. We may not be angels, but God has appointed us to care for the earth and all its creatures. And when we do that, we reflect the glory of God—like the vast universe does.

 

The book of Hebrews applies this psalm to Jesus. It says, “Jesus was made lower than the angels for a little while” (Hebrews 2:9). We must not miss the point of the writer. Jesus was made a human being. Jesus shared the eternal glory of God the Father. But he left that glory behind to become one of us, to become small right along with us.

 

So, Jesus knows what it’s like to feel puny. He knows what it’s like to feel like nothing at all. But he also knows the special glory of being human. Imagine that. The majesty of our God is ours through Jesus. The next time you are tempted to feel small, think on this psalm. We are anything but small!