23/2 The Challenge of the Stars / By: Tim Gustafson What is mankind that you are mindful of them? Psalm 8:4
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Psalm 8 For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David. 1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in 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 is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels, 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!
In the early twentieth century, Italian poet F. T. Marinetti launched Futurism, an artistic movement that rejected the past, scoffed at traditional ideas of beauty, and glorified machinery instead. In 1909, Marinetti wrote his Manifesto of Futurism, in which he declared “contempt for women,” praised “the blow with the fist,” and asserted, “We want to glorify war.” The manifesto concludes: “Standing on the world’s summit we launch once again our insolent challenge to the stars!”
Five years after Marinetti’s manifesto, modern warfare began in earnest. World War I did not bring glory. Marinetti himself died in 1944. The stars, still in place, took no notice.
King David sang poetically of the stars but with a dramatically different outlook. He wrote, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3–4). David’s question isn’t one of disbelief but of amazed humility. He knew that the God who made this vast cosmos is indeed mindful of us. He notices every detail about us—the good, the bad, the humble, the insolent—even the absurd. It’s pointless to challenge the stars. Rather, they challenge us to praise our Creator.
Today’s Hymns: Somebody Bigger Than You And I
Creation Hymn
Scripture to Respond: Isaiah 40:15-17 15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.17 Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing. 1 Corinthians 1:28-29 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
Reflection: What current philosophies or movements leave no room for God? What reminds you of your Creator, and how does that prompt you to praise Him?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I acknowledge Your love for me with feelings of amazement, awe, and humility. Who am I? Thank You for loving me!
Wong Wai Tung (Chief executive officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation) & Sam Chow (Administrative officer of The Great Wall Education Foundation)
