Christ Church Daily Devotion Oct 24 2023

The daily devotion from Christ Church on October 24th focuses on Psalm chapter 8. It praises the majesty of God and reflects on the vastness of the universe. The psalmist questions the significance of humanity in the face of God's greatness. The answer given is that humans were made a little lower than heavenly beings, with the purpose of being God's instruments in the world. The devotion concludes with a personal reflection on allowing God to restore the union with Christ and be fully alive. Welcome to Christ Church's daily devotion for October 24th, 2023. Today we will be reading from Psalm chapter 8. Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the works 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? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands and put everything under their feet. All flocks and herds and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Thirty centuries after David wrote these words, we feel the same awe when we consider the starry heavens. Astronauts have been physically able to walk on the same moon that David could only observe from a distance. Yet all the knowledge that has been gained about the universe in which we live only serves to deepen our impression of the tremendous wisdom and power of God. How vast is the universe in which we live? How tremendous is the power that sustains it all and keeps it operating as one harmonious unit? Then he faces the inevitable question that comes to those who contemplate God's greatness. What is man, he asks, in the sight of a God who could make a universe like this? You will recognize that this is the question that cries for an answer in our day. What are humans? Where did they come from? What is their purpose here? Why do they exist on this small planet in this vast universe? The psalmist goes on to answer his own question. You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings you crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm chapter 8 verse 5. Man has a unique relationship to God. He was made to be a little less than God. Man was to be the instrument by which God would do his work in the world and the expression of the character and being of God. He is the creature nearest to God. There is none other nearer for God himself was to live in a man. Today's personal worship option. God created human beings to be fully alive in union with him. Are we allowing God to restore that union with the risen Christ to be fully alive in and through us?