Posted by Psalm 8:4-5
“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.”
This passage has often given me a reason to think through the implications of all people being made in the image and likeness of God. All people are to be respected as the image bearers of God that they are. This has nothing to do with character or conduct, it’s simply a fact of being.
You Look Like God
David is fascinated with God’s mindfulness of people. He’s then awestruck at the thought of our place before God. Verse five is unfortunately translated; “You have made them a little lower than the angels.” David didn’t use the word “malʾākh” (angels), he used “elohîm” (God)! That means David actually said, “You have made them a little lower than God.” That’s a game changer for sure.
You are from God, made in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). He hasn’t created people to be inferior. Every person is to be respected and held in high esteem because they are God’s image bearers.
You Are Highly Valued
God so loved every one of His prize creations that He sent Jesus Christ to earth, to lay down His life, to restore the glory of His image in us! No one is unimportant or insignificant in God’s eyes.
You have been made a little lower than God, and He (not people) has crowned you with glory and honor! Sin may have dulled that glory and tarnished that image, but you are no less valued because of it. A great price was paid to forgive and redeem you.
I daily remind myself not to criticize, find fault or demean any person. I for one must never demean what God has paid to redeem. For me to belittle a person is an insult to God, whose image they bear.
God is Mindful of You
If you feel like God is a million miles away and that He’s forgotten about you, then, He would say to you: “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands…” (Isaiah 49:15-16).
God Cares For You
God would also say to you; “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26).
He would remind you; “do not worry, saying, ‘What shall I eat?’ or ‘What shall I drink?’ or ‘What shall I wear?’ For those who do not know God run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (see Matthew 6:31-33).
Continually remind yourself that you are loved by God. He’s always for you and never against you. Take Jeremiah 29:11 for yourself; “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Say it, think it, pray it, sing it aloud until you believe it, and when you do, you’ll Be Encouraged! -JSP
(1) Featured Image from http://www.peaceforthestorm.com/2016/01/11/you-are-mine/