Scripture: Psalm 8:9
LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Thought for the Day: The author of the Psalm praises the Lord, declaring the excellence of God throughout the earth. If my basic knowledge of Hebrew is correct, the word we translate as earth really describes everything except for heaven. The Hebrew word describes the known reality for those living 1000 years before Jesus. Another way of saying it is, “How excellent (or famous) is your name throughout the universe.” I find these words especially interesting in light of an article I read on CNN’s Website yesterday. Back on September 14, 2015, scientists recorded a massive collision that occurred between two black holes. What boggled my mind was to read how the actual collision took place 1.3 billion years ago, but it took that much time for the reverberation of this cataclysmic event to reach the earth. The next time someone says to you, “It took forever for them to bring me my lunch order!” You can let that person know that 15 minutes is not forever. If it had taken 1.3 billion years, that’s still not forever, but that is closer than 15 minutes. This is all to suggest that when we speak about God and the universe, we are making some pretty enormous inferences. I don’t know if God is technically famous throughout the vast universe in the way we think of famous, but I believe (and this is a statement of my own faith) the essence of God – which I know as love – stretches to every nook and cranny in this unfathomable universe. In fact, I believe love is the creative energy within this ever expanding reality.
Prayer: I declare your majesty, O Lord, from my little corner of the universe. Though I pray that my little corner of the universe never becomes so narrow that I forgot the immensity of all there is. Provide me encouragement to continue to expand my vision and thoughts beyond what I perceived to be the end of my universe yesterday. Amen.
