Out of the Mouths of Babes
A Reflection on Psalm 8
In a few days, Teresa and I will be back in the DC area visiting our grandson, Noah. We are blessed to be able to travel, and this will be our second trip to his home this summer. When we aren’t there, his mom and dad keep us connected with Noah via video chats. We have seen him crawl and now walk. He is also talking, but none of us are quite sure of the language he speaks. He can, though, make happy sounds. And he can also make sad noises. Out of the mouth of that babe it flows, and I am amazed.
The writer of the Psalms reflected in Psalm 8 on “God’s glory and the God-given dignity of human life.” There is something praise-worthy in how we have been made. And we are made to give God the praise and glory:
Psalm 8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals[a] that you care for them?5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God,[b]
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
What God has made in us is truly amazing. To God be the glory!
Prayer
God, let me use the brain You have given me to ponder Your presence. Let me use the mouth You have given me to sing Your praises. Let my heart be filled with thanks for what You have done in making, saving, claiming me through my Lord and Savior Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.