Astronomical

When I look at the sky, which you have made,
at the moon and the stars, which you set in their places -­
what are human beings, that you think of them;
mere mortals, that you care for them?
Yet you made them inferior only to yourself;
you crowned them with glory and honour. (verses 3-5)

Read Psalm 8

Back in my first year of university study, each student in our residential block was required to lead an evening devotion. The night of my devotion I used this psalm. I took my classmates out of the dorm and onto the commons, where we had laid out some blankets for everyone to lie down on. Then I asked them to look up at the stars and start counting. While they counted, I read them facts about the universe: the stars, the moon, the planets and the distances between them.

When you start to understand something of the vastness of the universe, it is almost mind-boggling how great God’s love for you is. With such huge power at his command, he created you to live in a special relationship with him through his Son. Praise him for his grace and love.

Thank you, Lord, for creating me to live in relationship with you always. Amen.

By Tom Peitsch, in “God’s Peace for each day” (LCA, Openbook Publishers (2005)

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