CONSIDER THY HEAVENS

One of my favorite psalms is Psalm 8, which says, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moons and the stars ….”  I’m not sure if you’ve actually, really, spent some time “considering the heavens”.  I have.  And so I’d like to take you on a little guided tour of some sort, to “consider the heavens … the moons and the stars”. 

First, here’s the context of that opening verse:

“When I consider your heavens, the work 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?” 
Psalm 8: 3-4 (NIV)

Why do we want to consider the heavens?  I propose that if you were to take some time to literally “consider the heavens”, then the question that pleads to be answered in that Psalm 8 will become your own question, and you would be compelled to fall face down flat on the ground before an amazing God, and ask, “Why me, Lord?  What did I do to deserve your love?”

Many years ago, I took an interest in astronomy (not astrology), which is the study of the stars, planets, and space.  I was fond of the outdoors, and studying this subject helped me enjoy going outdoors with more than just the lens of a tourist.  (see related post: “Have You Heard the Skies Speak?”)

Allow me to make it easier for you to consider the heavens using a few paragraphs and a video link.  My prayer is that after reading this post, you would come to know in your gut what the Psalmist felt when he asked that question: “what are we that you should love us so well?”

First, consider the sun

I know we all enjoy watching the sun as it rises at dawn, or sets at dusk.  But for now, let’s appreciate how big the Sun is in comparison to the Earth.   According to people who developed the “Peppercorn Model”, if the Earth was the size of a peppercorn, the Sun would be the size of an 8” bowling ball.  Using the same proportions, I computed that if the Earth’s diameter was the size of my height (5’9”), then the Sun’s diameter would be a 58 storey building!

In terms of distance, the Peppercorn Model shows that the distance between the Earth (the peppercorn) and the Sun (the bowling ball) would have to be 36 yards, or the distance from one end of a tennis court to the other.  However, if the diameter of the Earth were to be, say, my height, then the 58-storey building that is the Sun would be located 21 kilometers away from me!  That’s the distance between SM MOA and SM Fairview, to all my Pinoy readers.

Very big and very far. Simply put, that’s what the Sun is relative to the Earth where we all live. 

Consider the Rest of the Heavens

Now, consider this.  Astronomers say our Sun is larger than most of the other stars in space.  BUT there are still many that are larger than our Sun.  MUCH LARGER. 

Just to give you an indication, there’s one star, named RIGEL.  It is the bright star representing the left knee of the constellation of the hunter, ORION.  Rigel is a “supergiant” that is 50 times larger than the Sun!   That, my dear reader, is approximately the same size of the entire orbit of the Earth around the Sun!!  

Finally, let’s consider the rest of the heavens.  Click on this link and watch a 3-1/2 minute YouTube video.  If you wish, you can proceed to reflect as soon as you finish that video.  Or you can return to this post and finish reading it, and perhaps leave your own comment afterwards, and share this with your friends.  Here is the YouTube video link:  “Mind Blowing!  Earth Compared to the Rest of the Universe”  You HAVE to see this! 🙂

The Perspective We Need

Having considered the heavens in this manner, then, I hope you now have a better perspective that will help you appreciate the following popular verses from the bible in a newer and deeper way:

• “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  (Gen 1:1)
• “This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name.” (Jer 31:35)
• “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.  Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” (Psalm 147:4-5)

And the most popular: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  (Isaiah 55:8-9  NIV)

What Is Man?  Who Am I?  Why Me?

We end where we began.  Against the backdrop of the enormity of God’s creation of such a wonder-ful Universe, and knowing the history of God’s redemption of mankind, we are compelled to be in awe of God’s amazing love for sinful, disobedient, self-centered mankind.  Myself included.

I really don’t know if there are other thinking beings in this vast Universe.  But let me paraphrase from what I read somewhere (forgive the lack of accurate reference).  If there exists other beings residing somewhere in this Universe among its multibillion stars and the multibillion planets, and if they were to ever wonder what God looks like, there is only one place they need to look: right here on Earth.  That writer emphasized: Only here on Earth would anyone in the entire Universe be able to know and see what God is like. 

What assurance do we have for that answer? 

First, the bible says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness …’;  So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen 1:26-27)

Yet we know very well that all mankind has sinned.  However, out of His great love for mankind, God sent his only begotten son Jesus to atone for our sins and redeem all who believe in Him.  And because it is Jesus who is the “image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15), then by His indwelling in those who believe and abide in Him, and who then form His universal body, He will have His light shine before others through redeemed mankind. Those men and women who believe in Jesus become the hands and feet of Him whom He gathers to Himself, as His church, as the image of the invisible God made visible as Love Eternal.  It is precisely within the darkness of our sin where God’s love shines the brightest.

Man, made in the image and likeness of God, redeemed by love, for God’s great honor and glory, to be found nowhere else in the great Universe.  Not because of who we are, but because of what He has done. Praise be to God!