Psalm 8 (NRSV)
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Verse 1O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Verse 2Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
Verse 3When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;
Verse 4what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
Verse 5Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.
Verse 6You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet,
Verse 7all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
Verse 8the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
Verse 9O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Devotion
A little lower than God, and crowned ... with glory and honor. Those words describe you and me—"given ... dominion over the works of [God's] hands." But how often we foul things up. We drive out to a remote spot in the country to watch the sun come up. We marvel at the greatness of God and give thanks for the beauty of this place. Then as we drive off, we throw our trash out the window.
A friend who had lived most of his life in a lake community told me that when he was much younger, he could see the bottom of the lake. No more.
Mom goes into her child's room and finds it a huge mess. The son says, "Sorry, Mom." Mom says, "Sorry doesn't cut it. Clean up your room." We have been entrusted. And we have failed. Repentance is not simply the mouthing of practiced words. Repentance means to turn around, to go in a different direction, a new way.
Prayer
For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, for hill and vale and tree and flower, for sun and moon and stars of light, I praise you. This day I will do one thing to care for this beautiful place you have given me for a time. Amen.