Wish Upon a Star
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man that You take thought of him and the son of man that You care for him? Psalm 8:3-4NASB
Take thought – David spent many nights under the stars. Without the disturbance of electric lights, air pollution and man-made distractions, he must have been overwhelmed at the sheer immensity of the heavens. He looks into the depths of space, sprinkled liberally with the dust of angels, and asks the question that every man must ask: “God, why do you even care about me?” We are so insignificant. A speck on a speck circulating around a speck in the unfathomable darkness. God paints a canvas so large that by any scale we are nothing more than a single pixel of color in a multi-billion-bit collage.
But David knows that God considers us. More than that, He cares for us and for our children. “To take thought” is the Hebrew word zakar. It has a wide range of meanings. One group of meanings covers careful and deliberate mental activities. Here zakar can mean, “to think about, to meditate upon, to pay attention to, to remember, to recall.” Every one of these meanings has significance for us.
David is stunned by God’s careful consideration of human beings. After all, God is responsible for some pretty big operations. God has created some pretty big things. And God is involved in some very big projects. It hardly seems reasonable that God would have time for me. It’s like expecting the President to call me up to see if I had a good breakfast this morning. Except that God is the President of the Universe. How likely is that?
God not only thinks about us, He actually deliberately and carefully considers everything about us. Did you notice that every one of the meanings implies an intimate interest in the matter? God meditates upon us – He brings us to mind in order to contemplate our lives, carefully examining every facet of who we are, arranging His thoughts about us in order to completely understand us. God pays attention to us – He doesn’t just give us a glance. He doesn’t just nod our way. He stops and focuses His attention on us. He looks carefully to see who we are and to listen to what we say. He settles down to meet us. God remembers us – He brings us to mind as He looks over His favorite photos. He thinks about the special moments He had with us. He reflects on our history with Him. He smiles over us. God recalls us – He brings to mind the call He sends to us and recalls it again. He contemplates the intimacy of His efforts to send us love messages. He calls us back. He re-dials because He wants to hear our voices again.
These are actions of deep affection. Saying that God “takes thought” about us is another way of expressing His love for us. It’s quite amazing, isn’t it? Imagine it. God cares about you.
Topical Index: zakar, take thought, care, Psalm 8:3-4
Love this ‘word’ this morning. To ponder this is truly “AMAZING”!!!
A 5 star post! *****
I have to relate my thoughts on David’s realization when he was laying on his back looking up into the heavens. First thought: someone has stolen my tent. Second: what a majestic and wonderful G-d we have!
I trust you will enjoy my serious joy in Him! Shalom.
This is a beautiful post. Thank you Dr. Skip.
“He settles down to meet us.” Yes he does. AMEN AND AMEN. Praise Him!
I will share on this comment, “… he must have been overwhelmed at the sheer immensity of the heavens…” (Hahaha! on Bob’s comment of his first thought!) For 4 years, Ric (my husband who also fellowships here), and I lived off grid (no power poles! Electricity came from the sun!) on top of a mountain on a little homestead. To stand out in the night illuminated by the stars made me dizzy! The stars were HUGE and seemed so close that I could almost reach up and touch one!
Skip, this post is one of the first things that greeted me this morning. What a beautiful thing to sink into my brain and carry around with me all day. Thanks.
Thanks Skip for your erudite commentary on this lovely verse.
It is clear that God wants us to give thought to the question Skip is focusing on today. God is reminding us to be asking this question of ourselves: “What is man that you take thought of him? And then seek the answer to the why! I notice this question is also posed in similar words in: Psalm 144:3, Job 7:17 and Hebrews 2:6-7. That repetition should goad us to pay attention.
David ponders in Psalm 144, after again asking the question of God on why does He even bother caring. In verse 4 David states: “Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow.” Yes indeed – life is short, death looms for us all! But as Skip reminded us today, we have a God and Father who cares about us all. We are not like the beasts who perish and become food for worms. In John 3:16 John expresses how much God cares for us in sending His Son to “taste death for every one” so we might have life.
The mind boggling answer to the question that God is asking us to ponder is that through Messiah God is in process of “bringing many sons to glory”. (Heb.2:10) He is offering all of humanity an inheritance of a glorious spiritually composed body to share eternity with HIM as sons and daughters.
It seems to me that God wants us to lift our thoughts above the mundane and fleshy things of life and “give thought” to what He has in store for us all up ahead!
Skip, your article is a wonderful presentation of God’s Heart. It is evident that you have spent much time with Him……to know Him so intimately. Thank you for sharing what you have found of Him.
Poetry in motion. He walks by my side. One of your best posts Skip. Thanks
How big is God?
~ Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable ~ (Psalm 145.3)
Yes, He is.. but He is also not only LORD of the “macro,” but of the “micro” as well! ~ The very hairs on our heads are numbered! ~ Why is this? Because He is intricately and intimately involved in the “everyday” details of every life! (Therefore) ~ Let everything that breathes praise the LORD!! ~
(Psalm 150.6)
“Zakar” – a very interesting word! Here is another aspect of “zakar” and one that would suggest Adam was “derelict in his duty!” (-and so are we, btw..) What was the failure of Adam? The same as ours! He failed to remember and he failed to speak! Adam.. (and others) “Speak the word of God with boldness!!”- Are you are man or a mouse? (squeak up!)
“It is interesting that in Hebrew all nouns are either masculine or feminine (there is no neuter). In general nouns are divided in how they act. Their roles define them- masculine nouns ‘initiate’, and feminine nouns ‘respond’. Body parts that are single tend to be masculine, and paired body parts tend to be feminine.
“Zakar” (male) comes from the same Hebrew verb “zakar”. “Zakar” as a verb is most commonly translated into “remember”, which loses out in translation. It would be better translated as ’speaking or acting in behalf of’- like when the Holy One “remembered the children of Israel” prior to sending Moses after them; or like when Joseph asked the Cup-bearer to “remember me before Pharaoh”. As “protector and provider” the male role is to ’speak or act in behalf of’ the female (which is where Adam failed in the Garden with the serpent).
YHWH both initiates and responds- which is why it is only when the ‘zakar’ and the ‘neqebah’ fulfill their roles together that they truly reflect the image of the Creator!”
I found this info in Wiki and thought is was interesting:
It has been argued that “one like a son of man'” describes one “like a human being” or one like the narrator himself. Jewish interpretations read it as referring to “an angel with a human appearance, perhaps Michael.”