Psalm 8: Who Put You In Charge?

Read Psalm 8

Who Put You In Charge?

“What are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority.”
Psalm 8:4-6

In comparison to the overwhelming vastness, magnificence, complexity, wonder and beauty of the universe—that which we see through both the telescope as well the microscope—man seems so insignificant. Yet the Sovereign God created the human race and gave them co-rulership over his creation. He put us in charge!

Imagine that! God has entrusted us with the work of his hands. We are to manage his resources, tend to his investment, and supervise the things he so lovingly and purposely crafted out of nothing. We are to guard, preserve and even increase what is so precious to him. We have been given stewardship of all creation.

Why did God do that? Only God knows. But when you think about it, it is both humbling and sobering that God has sovereignly placed this weight of glory upon my shoulders—and yours.

That, then, begs the question: How are you doing taking care of God’s universe? How are you tending his environment—Planet Earth? What is your attitude toward things created—stuff? And what about you, God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), how are you caring for you—spirit, mind, soul and, yes, even your body?

Hopefully you are giving great care to all these things like a partner rather than a hireling. Hopefully you have an ownership mentality. Hopefully you take seriously this calling of stewardship God has given you. Perhaps a great companion chapter for you to consider would be Matthew 25:14-30 where Jesus teaches about the parable of the talents.

God has put you in charge of quite a bit—and he is counting on you to steward it wisely. So when it comes to the creation, don’t let the crazies and radicals hijack the environmental movement. Christians ought to lead the way with a common sense approach to loving the earth. When it comes to your body, treat it like the temple of the Holy Spirit—because it is. And when it comes to your inner being, tend to it often. Make sure you are doing regular soul work, because one day it will return to its Creator.

Yes, God has given you the keys to his shiny universe—the macro, the micro and the personal. Steward it well!

“Now if I believe in God’s Son and remember that He became man, all creatures will appear a hundred times more beautiful to me than before. Then I will properly appreciate the sun, the moon, the stars, trees, apples, as I reflect that he is Lord over all things. …God writes the Gospel, not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.”
— Martin Luther

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