Lent Devotion: Prayer, Day Four

Psalm 8:1 (NIV) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Thus begins my favorite Psalm. This is a simple Psalm of praise to God. The author marvels at the wonder of creation and humanity’s place in it.
At the time this Psalm was written, there weren’t many man-made things that caused awe. When considering the most marvelous things of the world, the author looked up and saw the stars, looked across the expanse of the sea and witnessed its power, gazed upon the mountains and wondered at their grandeur.
Today we have a 160-story building, a 177,000-foot bridge, and a 150,000-seat stadium. We even have a book, The Guinness Book of World Records, which is dedicated to recording the exploits of human achievement. It is easy to become distracted from the awe of God when we have so many other superlatives vying for our attention. This is part of the reason I like to take time to point out the majesty of our creation and to celebrate the wonder of the Creator.
Adoration, awe, wonder and marvel are all words that belong in our worship and prayer life. I believe God wants to be closer to us than our best friend, but I don’t believe God wants to be our buddy. There is something truly unique about the human-divine relationship that goes beyond our small vocabulary and draws us into a moment when we say, “Lord I am in awe of the way that you care enough about someone as insignificant as me. In your love, you have given me meaning and purpose. For that I worship you today.”