Category: Daily Devotionals

Psalm 8.4-5 and Hebrews 2.5-13

Sylvia has just been moved from the town centre to a top flat on the edge of town; Jill speaks with the husband she lost last year each day; Ahmed lives in a shared government provided house but no one else speaks Arabic; Graham left university last year and was excited to get his first job in a new town but now he has been placed on furlough.  Each one surrounded by people but craving intimacy.

If it is so hard to find human intimacy, how can intimacy with God be gained, when David in Psalm 8 describes the massive gap between the creator of the universe and humanity?  *‘What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?’ ^v4a Hebrews Chp 2 interprets this passage to reveal Jesus as the means by which humanity can gain intimacy with God and regain the relationship with Him that He had always intended.  Son of man is a term Jesus regularly used to referred to himself.  It was Jesus, when he took on humanity, that was made a little lower than the angels ^v5 and Jesus who was crowned with glory and honour following his death on the cross, resurrection and ascension.  ‘But we see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’ ^Hebrews2.9 Jesus has made believers sons and daughters of God, been the forerunner of our salvation and made his people holy in God’s sight. ^Heb2.10-11

‘Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.’ ^Heb2.11 It is difficult to get more intimate than that.  As we have been designed for intimacy with others so our soul cries out for intimacy with God.   ‘Jesus says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” ^Heb2.13

*ESV translation

Who hasn’t walked hand in hand through a remote place, laid on the ground and gazed at the wonder of the night sky?  David’s night in Psalm 8 would have been darker and therefore his stars brighter than most of ours.  It might have been under such a sky that you first declared your love, it is easier under the cover of darkness.  But to David the sky shouted out the laws of creation.

Firstly David declared the majesty and reputation of YHWH (Yahweh) God’s self-given name.  ‘You have set your glory in the heavens.’ ^v1  So great is Yahweh that he takes the weakest of all things, the praise of children and infants, and makes something great and strong from it. ^v2 

To the modern mind the wonder of God’s creation of the universe is even greater than David’s as our telescopes and satellites probe the beauty and size of His creation. ^v3  How humbling this is when we compare our apparent universal insignificance to His creation, only made significant by God’s compassion for us. ^v4  

It is to God and God alone that we owe our role in the world.  He has honoured humanity with being in His sight, made a little lower than heavenly beings.  He ascribes us with honour. ^v5  With such honour comes responsibility, as His emissaries, to care for His creation. ^vv6-7

This puts a particular light on what God’s work in our world consists of.  But before, during and following the day’s work we are to be inspired by His creation to give honour to His name. Yahweh.  ‘Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.’ ^v9

Mohammed* was stopped at a road block driving his government truck.  He had just picked up some people at the side of the road, as is normal in his country, not knowing they were participants in an anti-government protest.  Mohammed was arrested, imprisoned without trial and regularly tortured in a police jail for over 3 years.   For many, even most in the UK, David’s words in Psalm 7 can seem extreme, ‘Save me from all my pursuers and deliver me.’ ^v7 Mohammed’s story reminds us the bible is for all people, over all time, and is highly relevant in many cultures.  David’s cry to God, ‘Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;’ ^v6 is understandable.  David like Mohammed was innocent and yet their lives were threatened.  Where is the justice in that?

David however, does not seek to take vengeance himself but seeks protection ^v10 and justice ^v12 from God and in the end praises Him because he trusts in His righteousness. ^v12

Jesus taught and lived an even higher standard.  ^‘But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.’ ^{Matthew 5.44-45} Paul explains, Jesus died for us when we were enemies of his, ^‘For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.’ ^{Romans 5.10}

How is it that Mohammed could pray for his persecutors and leave justice to God?  Only through first receiving the grace of God.

*Mohammed is not his real name to protect his identity.

 Marie* in the midst of a crowd took me to one side and said, ‘I can’t go on anymore, I just can’t do it.’  There had been too many false dawns.  Each step forward was for a moment like an exhilarating rush of a wave up the beach only for the backwash of loneliness and fear to grip her soul and drag her back.  How can we pray when desperation has drained us of hope?  David in Psalm 6 has just that experience, ‘Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.  My soul is greatly troubled.  But you, O Lord – how long.’ ^vv2-3  It is that question, ‘how long’, that is so hard to get beyond, not only for Marie, but today for the nation.  David was God’s anointed King, from David’s line would come the Messiah and yet he knew the depths of despair.  He knew what it was like to cry all night, seemingly endlessly.  ‘I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears. ^v6  David grasps the one lifeline he knows, God’s steadfast love.  ‘Turn, O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.’ ^V4  It is God’s steadfast love, not our strength, that is the source of hope and that is perfectly expressed in Jesus Christ.  ‘The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ ^{Galatians 2.20}

This youtube clip may help us set our hope in Him.  This is my prayer for every one of our asylum seeking and refugee families with tears in my eyes. 

*Marie is not her real name and is a mash up of several real people, not all are female, to protect their identity.

Jesus added, ‘For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. ^{Matthew 6.24}

Do we ever feel our lives are compromised by competing pressures?  Perhaps at work or in the family we know something is wrong but the pressure of loyalty tempts us to compromise.

In Psalm 5 David makes clear there is no middle ground. ‘For you are not a God who delights in wickedness.’^v4 

So how do we delight in Godly righteousness?  David presents us with a model that starts as we rise in the morning as we greet our Lord and prepare to make the day our sacrifice of worship. ^v3  We are confident to approach Him because of his, ‘steadfast love.’^v7  We conduct ourselves with reverence, aware of his presence in the knowledge that this straightens our lives onto a righteous path.

Why would we choose this way of life if it can bring about rejection, ridicule and opposition?  Simply because it brings with it rejoicing and joy and God’s protection. ^v11  David concludes with, ‘For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favour as with a shield.’  It is not only our body that needs a shield, it is our spiritual heart as well.

Let’s praise our God each new morning.