Psalm 8:4 "What is man that You are mindful of him?" David, with even the limited information about the universe that he could observe, was overwhelmed by the immensity of the Creator who stands transcendentally outside of it all as it's Designer and Sustainer. Today we have so much more understanding of that enormity of creation; the billions of galaxies spinning in precision and beauty. David's exclamation seems more timely than ever. "What is man that You are mindful of him?"
And yet the Bible teaches us about the Creator that, not only does He take an interest in mankind, but He reveals Himself to individual people. He hears their cries in prayer. He intervenes in their lives. Gives them assignments. Provides for their needs in extraordinary ways.
One of the things many people have struggled with is accepting that God could have any individual interest in one person on a planet hosting more than 6 billion such human beings. But for a glimpse of understanding we are, ironically, flung back to the expanses of the gigantic universe again.
God has created billions of galaxies in the known universe. When you begin to study the discoveries of modern astronomy the numbers are simply staggering. Incomprehensible. Each galaxy contains millions of stars, solar systems and planets. He keeps all of this ordered in perfect precision. Once you begin to wrestle with such immensity - such unfathomable numbers - a group of 6 billion people quickly becomes apparent for what it truly is by Divine standards ...... THE FEW.
When we consider a million people by our personal standards of measurement, governed primarily by the number of relationships we can meaningfully sustain, it is an enormous crowd. But to the God who contains the multiplied trillions of intricacies in the universe, it is but a handful.
SO, when you come to thinking of God, by faith you must cast aside human standards of measure and scope, for we are dealing with the One to Whom these are meaningless. At the privileged place in this colossal universe God has made, the small blue planet we call earth, He has a comparitively tiny number of human beings He purposefully created and lovingly watches and cares for.
Pastor Phil
"There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, 'Behold I am wise.' But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass's colt; and with the solemn exclamation, 'I am but of yesterday, and know nothing.' No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God." (Charles Haddon Spurgeon. January 7th, 1855. He was 20 years old.)
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