Week 2: In charge of God's possession

Well, I've talked to a number of you who have taken a copy of the new reading plan and have committed to read the Bible in 1 year. That is absolutely FANTASTIC!! Getting started is 50% of the grade. Following through on your commitment by reading every day is the other 50%!

Please look at Week 1 for the schedule. You can follow along on-line at www.oneyearbibleonline.com, or grab a hardcopy at the church. We can send you pdf files with the schedule as well if you are interested. Just shoot us an e-mail.

This week's SOAP is from Psalm 8:

Scripture
1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Observation
In this Psalm, David sings praises to God for the wonders of creation. And he praises human beings for being the crown of God's creation. First he marvels at the fact that God even is mindful of mere mortals (v4), but then he proclaims that human beings are almost equal to heavenly beings ("gods" in some translations). It is then that he mentions that human beings are made rulers over the works of God's hands, and that everything in creation is put under their feet. David ends the Psalm the way he started it: "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Application
It is mind boggling to think that God made us almost equal to the heavenly beings. We are made in His image, which means we look like Him in many ways. Not just that, but He also put us in control of creation. We do not always realize that, but this Psalm says that we are in charge of God's property... his creation. We are not the owners, but God is. We better be very careful with his possessions. That includes forests, seas, animals, AND... other people! All of this is God's property, and we are leasing it for a little while. I don't know about you, but that feels to me like a big responsibility. The good thing is that God has given us his wisdom as well, so we can execute this task the way He likes to see it.

Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your creation. We thank you for creating us into your image. It is almost too hard to fathom, yet it is true that you have put us in charge of this wonderful place. Help us to take good care of this world, and of its people that you have entrusted us with. LORD our Lord, how majestic is your name, and the name of your son, Jesus, in all the earth! Amen.

Have a great week.

In Him,

Dick