I’m sitting here in the sunroom, as I often do. 

Bibles, commentaries and writing paper clutter the glass top coffee table before me.  A very large old family Bible, dated in the 1800s — a Christmas gift given to me several years ago — rests on the end table beside my wicker chair. It is here that many of my Sunday School lessons, sermons and articles for the Tryon Daily Bulletin are prepared.

As I sit here this morning, looking through the windows that frame my view of the outdoors, I see the vast expanse of blue sky, the fleecy white clouds and the diversity of green leafy branches. As I take this all in, my thoughts turn to the eighth Psalm.

It begins in the King James Version of the Bible, which is my favorite for the Psalms: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! “(Ps. 8:1). It continues, “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels [“God” in several newer versions of the Bible], and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the work of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas” (Ps. 8:3-8).

What amazes me in all of this is the exalted place that God has given to us in the created order, whether you choose “a little lower than the angels” or “a little lower than God.” Of course, the trouble comes in when we reverse the order and put ourselves in the place of God!  But that’s for another article at another time.

The very fact, given the awe-inspiring vastness of His handiwork on the earth and in the skies, God should not only be mindful of us but visit us, is astounding. That God should take notice of us and not only have us on his mind but visit us is awesome.

And according to the Gospels, it’s not that that he just dropped by, but, in Jesus, unpacked and stayed a while. Furthermore, when we invite Jesus into our lives, he actually takes up residence with us and shares our street address!

No wonder, given what is said in the Psalm, it ends as it began: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth” (Ps. 8:9).