ellamae03

I think the common thread that ties verses 1-6 to 7-13 is the glory of God. Not only is His glory revealed in nature, His creation, but also in His written Word. Just as creation inspires awe and wonder at His creativity and might, God's Word inspires that same awe and wonder, especially when we see how much He, a powerful and holy God, loves us. The psalmist seems to bask in God's Word by continuing in his observations of what the Word does in the lives of humans. He doesn't just say something like, "God's Word is great and does a lot of good for those that read it." He gets specific. It is obvious that the psalmist has experienced the reviving, wisdom-creating, joy bringing, insight giving power of the Word. I definitely feel as the psalmist does about the Word. Once you really dig in to the Word and are given guidance by the Holy Spirit, the Word comes alive and changes you from the inside out. The psalmist's wonder in creation seems to inspire him to think of the glory of the Lord and His Word. When he looks at creation, he sees the Lord. I think there are so many things that the Lord has created for us that we take for granted. In not seeing the Lord in what He has created, many beautiful things have been corrupted. In the prayer that closes Psalm 19, the psalmist is asking God to continue His work in him in order for the Lord to be shown to others through the psalmist. In the words of the New Testament, the psalmist is asking the Lord to help him die to self and be a living sacrifice, giving up his worldly thoughts for the higher thoughts of the Lord. I came across this prayer in an earlier reading of Psalms and made that a prayer. It definitely helps you to keep your priorities straight.

Would you say that the words "subdue" and "rule" found in Genesis 1:28 and the words "in charge" and "authority" speak to us being held accountable for how we treat the earth?

One thing I learned about God through Psalm 8 is that He can use even what the world views as weak to silence His enemies. It also teaches us that the Lord is responsible for our authority over the things in this world, it is not of ourselves, and that He thinks of us and cares for us. There is a song called "Friend of God" that mentions this, and about how amazing it is that the Lord of the universe chooses to call us friends. Psalm 8 teaches us that humans are created only a little lower than God (NLT) and have been given charge of everything the Lord has made. We also see the relationship between God and humans, as I wrote above. Through this psalm we learn that Jesus was made lower for a little while in order to show the complete love of God for humanity. What an example of humility! Finally, we see first a responsibility to praise God. Verse 1 says that the majesty of the Lord's name fills the earth, and I think that speaks to our responsibility to give praise to His name. He is worthy of all of our honor and praise, and we should be filling the earth with it. This is also reflected in verse 2 in which we see the Lord has taught children and infants to give Him praise. In addition to praising the Lord, we have been given authority over His creation. I have heard that this is used as an argument for Christians to get involved in the so-called "Green Movement," but notice that we are given charge over the earth, but are not called to care for it. That's not to say that we should be irresponsible in our treatment of the earth, but it is not a command of God to care for the survival of animals or oceans or air. We are told in Genesis to subdue what is in the earth and fill it with people. That's it. Christ told his disciples to go out to the ends of the earth and make disciples of all people. I think this is much more important that making sure the hole in the ozone doesn't grow another centimeter. The souls of the lost should be our highest priority. The earth will soon pass away, but there is still an eternity to be lived, and we should be putting all of our energy and time into getting people ready.