First Mennonite Church
July 6, 2025
A God Who Cares for You
Text: Psalm 8:1-5
What is man, meaning, what are human beings? This question has busied the minds of philosophers and intellectuals from time immemorial. Some say man is a thinking being or a political animal, or, as René Descartes concluded, “I think, therefore I am,” and so on.
The question is one that confronts every human being. Down in the human heart, each and every person will have to answer this fundamental question: Who am I? Each of us has to come to an answer of our own somehow.
Another question that arises in this quest of finding our own identity is: Who is God? According to psychologists, we develop physically, emotionally, and intellectually as we discover our own identity first and then of “other,” including God. When a baby cries, the only thing the baby knows is that something in the person he or she is is wrong. It is possible that the baby needs a clean diaper, or that she is hungry, or she has a tummy ache. The baby discovers first his or her identity as a person. Mom must naturally comes into perspective secondly, and then others gradually. And the question of who God is will come later as the child grows.
So again, who are you? Do you matter to someone? To whom? And, how much?
The passage for today will remind us of who we are and what our relationship is with the world God created. But most importantly, this passage will help us put in perspective our identity and purpose in this world before our Creator God. You see, we can only have the right perspective about ourselves as humans if we have the right perspective on who God is. The problem humans have had and continue to have is that we have tried to define who “man” is apart from first considering who God is. Therefore, defining the identity and purpose of mankind apart from God has led to such skewed perspectives about who we are as humans. Therefore, some have defined man as the master of his own destiny, or as the center of the universe, or as the product of time, chance, and, for some unknown reason, having better luck than all the other living creatures on the surface of the earth.
So, let us go to our passage.
The text of Psalm 8 is also the first Psalm to reach the moon. When Apollo 11 left for the moon in 1969, a silicon disk containing messages from 73 nations, including the Vatican, which contributed the text of Psalm 8, was taken to the moon.
Psalm 8 is the first praise song in the book of Psalms. It addresses God in the second person, using the pronouns “you” and “your.”
If we envision David at the time he composed this Psalm, he was possibly lying down on the ground at night and staring into the cloudless sky. David may have been staring at the moon and countless stars, spotting the constellations Orion, the Bear, and the Pleiades as mentioned in Job 9. David did not know of planets, nor did he know how the solar system works as we do today. What David saw was the splendor and magnificent beauty of the glittering lights above.
For a man of faith like David, the immediate response to his observation of the astronomical bodies was to worship God. David was overwhelmed by his sense of his finitude and smallness before the Creator of such an awesome world before his eyes. David saw himself like a little crawling worm before the majesty of God. He was inspired to sing a song of praise. In his song, David captures so perfectly and succinctly the majesty of God, his sovereignty over the cosmos, and the godly ordained status and assignment of humankind.
David addresses God as Lord and Sovereign. These titles belong to kings. But David acknowledges that these titles are for God, whose name is majestic in all the earth. That is, the name Yahweh denotes royalty in all the earth. In the ancient Hebrew Culture, the name of a person is reflected in the person’s character and essence. Thus, what David is saying is that God’s character and essence were visibly witnessed throughout the earth. Everything on earth witnesses to God’s power and glory. It is the same idea Paul speaks about in Romans 1. And although the pagans could right away identify who the Creator God is, by looking at Creation, they refused to give glory to God. David knew the Creator God and that his name is Yahweh, the Lord and Sovereign. But God’s sovereignty and majesty not only reach all the corners of the earth, they are also set above the heavens.
Verse 2 makes an astonishing affirmation about the nature of God’s majesty and sovereignty set above the heavens. God’s beauty and majesty are sublime, but are also found in the mouths of babies. In the words of innocent children, God establishes a fortress against the enemies of God. Another way to understand verse is that even babies can speak of the glory of God. Whichever way we may decide to understand verse two, the message is that God is fully aware of humankind and humankind has the potential to know God through the created world. Mankind cannot avoid knowing God, and God has mankind ever present in his heart.
In verse 4, David expresses his amazement at God’s thorough concern for humanity. David openly wonders how a God who not only created the vast universe but also cares for every aspect of it could also be mindful of mere mortal beings. In other words, David asks God, O Lord, our Sovereign Lord, how much are we worth before your eyes that you should care for us? What a profound question! How much are we worth? Who has the right to decide how much a life is worth?
You might remember the incident that caused an uproar in Seattle, WA, in July of last year. A police officer struck and killed a 26 year old university student, after which he was caught on his own camera, laughing as he reported the incident to another officer. When asked what had happened, he said he just killed “a regular person with limited value,” for which the city should “just write a check for eleven thousand dollars.”[1]
Am I worth something? Advertisement companies take advantage of this ever-present question in the human heart. These companies are constantly telling us that wearing a certain brand name, or driving a certain car, or having this or that will give us status and make us gain the admiration of others. The question: Am I worth something, if asked from a purely materialistic and human perspective, can have damaging effects on those who ask it. Because some do not feel like being worth much, they run after the things they are told would give them worth. People fight and die in their effort to accumulate wealth and material possessions. People abandon or neglect their loved ones for the sake of increasing their worth.
How much are you worth? How much am I worth? Asking this question apart from the proper context, which is the context of faith, can lead to misery. But when this question is asked in the context of our creatureliness (our state of being created by God), we find an encouraging answer. That is because our Creator God made us a little lower than “Elohim” says David. In many instances, this word has been used to refer to God, but it can also mean angels or divine beings. God has crowned us with honor and glory. He has made us kings and queens on earth, just as God is King over all the earth and above the heavens. God has created you and given you honor and glory. So let me tell you the good news: You are worth much more than gold. God has crowned you; therefore, you are not less than a king or queen.
Furthermore, God has created us to take care of his beautiful creation. Therefore, God has made us co-creators of his beautiful creation.
The good news today is that God has not forgotten you. God is mindful of you because he created you bearing his likeness and image. God knows that he not only imprinted in you his likeness and image but has also crowned you with honor and glory.
God is so mindful and full of love for us, as Jesus said: For God so loved the world he created that he gave his only son, so that everyone who might believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God created us with a purpose within his creation. God created us out of love, and in love, he has given us Jesus Christ to redeem us from sin and death, which we have brought upon ourselves.
Today, let me remind you that God created you; he imprinted his image in you, and has crowned you with honor and glory. God is mindful of you. He cares for you. He wants only the best for you. In Jesus, he offers his love and grace of salvation. Amen.
Pastor Romero
[1] www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp3848dx6ngo