Psalm 8
May 28, 2023
Heavenly Father, we praise your name–all that your name stands for- all that you are. We joyfully acclaim you for the majesty of your rule and for its extent. There is no part of this planet, no realm of earthly existence, where you do not reign.
We are amazed that, though your glory exceeds the heavens, you have chosen to display it throughout the earth in the representative rule that you have bestowed upon us humans. How remarkable that you should exalt us in this way and give us the privilege of reflecting your rule overall the earth–even over the birds, which we cannot reach, and the creatures of the sea, which we cannot observe. All this you originally placed under our feet.
But we confess, Father, we humans lost the rule. We corrupted your design. In Adam we overreached and demanded independent rule. And we became slaves–to sin, to death, and to that great rebel Satan. We feel the effects of that fall daily. We often don’t feel like rulers. The world, the flesh, and the devil often seem to have the upper hand. We feel ruled and overruled by anger, pride, lust, retaliation, apathy, anxiety, insensitivity, materialism, racism, laziness, self-righteousness—and the list goes on. We confess our trading of your rule, and the display of your rule, for various expressions of enslavement.
But we praise you that you made Jesus, your Son, the Son of Man, a little lower than the angels, that he might taste death for everyone—that he might suffer the penalty for our rebellion, that he might gain back, in our behalf, the rule we forfeited. You raised him from thed ead. You seated him at your right hand, putting all things under his feet. Your crowned him with glory and honor. You joined us to him, seating us in the heavenly realms where all things are under our feet as well. In union with him, we get to experience anew the realities of this psalm.
So here we are today, Father—believers in the Son of Man, Jesus the Messiah, fulfiller of this psalm. In our weaknesses and vulnerabilities, our great needs and dependence, we are like children and infants. Yet as such we raise our hearts and our voices in praise to you for making us rulers in Christ, for setting us on a path of ultimate victory, not defeat, in him, for putting all things under our feet. What enemy can ultimately stand against us? By our praising we silence our accusing and lying demonic foes, our clamoring and campaigning indwelling sin, our contemptuous and intimidating society. Our rule shows your rule. There is no rule like yours, no name like yours, no realm greater than you!
Align our daily lives with these realities, Lord. Amid our weaknesses may our praises be clear and strong. May we defy the power of the devil and sin and the world through our humble but confident acclaim of your rule and your sharing it with us in Jesus.
In this vein, Father, we think of earthly rulers, and as you commanded us, we pray for the leaders of our cities, our state, our country. Give our elected and appointed leaders wisdom. Work in them and in our land for the sake of the spread of the gospel.
We pray for one another in the fellowship of our congregation. Renew our perspective and faith, deepen our confidence in your name, where your rule—and ours—are called into question through significant difficulties of mind and heart, of relationships, of money, of health. This morning we are remembering Steve Westmoreland as he prepares for procedures and surgery on his heart. Give your guiding, sustaining, healing grace.
In the summertime rhythms, opportunities, and challenges that are before us, keep up your good work in and through us. May we steward this unique season well. Keep making us like Jesus. Give us opportunity to introduce others to Jesus. May they join us in a heart and in a lifestyle that declares, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”
We pray in the name of the risen Christ. And all God’s people said, “Amen.”