JENNY'S PSALM REFLECTIONS: 8 VERSE 1

THIS WEEK’S VERSE IS PSALM PSALM 8 V 1

"O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

Background:

Psalm 8 is the first praise psalm in the Psalter. God is always the focus. One moment the Psalmist sees the awesome horizons of God’s world, the next he sees God close up. He looks up to the night sky (verse 3) and then reflects on the smallness of himself (verse 4) “What am I…?”

The Psalmist recognises God as the Creator of life, who has ordered the universe, and that we have responsibilities to be caring in our relationship with all creatures. We’re all creatures and we are “little” in the vastness of the world and we need the wisdom, especially at this time of pressing climate change, to look after our world.

Psalm 8 teaches us afresh through prayer and praise to be mindful of the great world around us, learning to take seriously our responsibilities within it, tiny players within a massive-and growing universe.

God cares about all created creatures, so much that Jesus shared life on earth with us. It’s a big world but God is bigger. Yet its’ also a small world where we can glimpse God on our own level. When we know our own size, that’s when we really grow. 

Meditation

1. FIND A Relaxing PLACE. 

As this Psalm is a song of praise about creation try to find a quiet place outside to sit, or sit at an open window, breathing in the fresh air.  Hold a flower, leaf or blade of grass to remind you of God’s presence in creation.

2. Focus on your breathing.

Focus on your breathing. Pay attention to in-breaths and out-breaths. You may think of breathing in God’s life and peace and breathing out any tension.

3. Be aware of your body.

Be aware of your body. Let your aches and pains be there. Rest your hands in your lap ; you don’t need to be doing anything with them now. Rest your feet on the floor; you don’t need to go anywhere. Shrug your shoulders, ease your neck. Take time to become still…

4. Say the verses aloud to yourself

Say the verse aloud to yourself. Read it again slowly, listening. As in this Psalm, if there is a particular need at the moment, ask the question, “Father, is there something in my life You are talking to me about?”.

5.  Sit quietly

Sit quietly and see whether anything about it strikes you as important for you. Tell God what it is. Ask God for what you need. Make a note of anything you want to remember.

6. Finish with this prayer:

Finish with this prayer: Heavenly Father, creator of the heavens and ordering of our universe, we ask that we would be mindful of creation and look after it. Help us to make the right, ethical decisions to preserve our planet. Amen.