God Speaks
For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.
1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.
3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
7 the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: This is one of my favorite psalms. It begins and ends with the same refrain, proclaiming the majesty of the name of the LORD. In between it mentions children, infants, all of creation, and human beings, the ones God surprisingly put in charge of the rest. All proclaim, “O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” It is debated among theologians whether the “son of man” mentioned in the Hebrew (the original language of the Psalms) of verses 4 and 5 refers to human beings in general or the God-Man, Jesus, in particular. “Son of man” was the term He often used to refer to himself. At any rate, this wonderful psalm praises the great glory of the name of the LORD.
Prayer: O LORD God whose name is the most powerful of all, help Your people spread the knowledge of that glorious name throughout the earth. May even little children and infants proclaim it boldly, thus silencing all those who oppose You. The night sky, with all its great number of galaxies of stars and planets and moons, is a display of Your creativity and love of beauty and order. The Lord Jesus, Your promised Messiah, demonstrated and spread the glory of Your name wherever He went and whatever He did. Then He brought special honor to You and elevated human beings by suffering, dying for all mankind, and rising from the dead. May we use the power and authority over all creation You have given us to spread the majesty of Your name throughout the earth. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
• I will encourage a believer to share how the LORD God has manifested the power of His name in their life.
• I will tell a not-yet believer how the LORD God has manifested the power of His name in my life.
• I will pray for those who are working to spread the majesty of the LORD’s name throughout the earth.
• I will write and/or sing a personal praise song to the name of the Lord.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __.