Put Me in my Place

“When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
    and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
    you have put all things under his feet.” Psalm 8:3-6

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand
    and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure
    and weighed the mountains in scales
    and the hills in a balance?
Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,
    or what man shows him his counsel?
Whom did he consult,
    and who made him understand?
Who taught him justice,
    and knowledge,
    and showed him the way of understanding?..
To whom then will you liken God,
    or what likeness compare with him?

Do you not know? Do you not hear?..
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
    and spreads them like a tent to dwell in…

To whom will you compare me..? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
    who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
    calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
    and because he is strong in power,
    not one is missing.” Isaiah 40:12-14,18,21-22,25-26

Throughout the scriptures, the Lord reveals himself and speaks to His people through the world He made. He illustrates His promises by drawing Abraham to the infinite speckling stars in the black night sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. He humbles David by the vast canopy of space over his shepherd fields. Isaiah and others were captivated by His immeasurable greatness observed in the vastness of creation and intricacies of His creatures. Indeed, He made us to marvel hat and know Him. (Genesis 15:5; 22:17; Job 38:4-12,38:34-39:6)

Frenzied with managing and busying, we have little breath left for wonder. Who do we think we are that we can’t pause and ponder God and His creation? Our calendars and hours get so packed with lesser pursuits that we fancy ourselves into thinking who is He, and how dare He, rather than what and who am I? Contemplating the infinite, omnipotent Lord and HIs handiwork puts us in our place.

In what are we so entrenched that we’ve displaced the Lord by misplacing ourselves at center? How can we make it a regular practice to hush and ‘consider the work of God’s fingers,’ and revere Him? From what occupations and screens and mirrors do we need to turn so we can look up, and out, and behold His glory?

“O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.” ~ Carl Bobert (1886)

Lord, put and keep me in my place before Your greatness, humbled in gratitude and faithful stewardship, to Your glory.