A Meditation on the Mindfulness of God - Kevin Bettany

Three exhortations which I would want to bring out in this Psalm.

1.    The Lord is always mindful of his own Name.

2.   The Lord is always mindful of mankind.

3.   The Lord is always mindful of his own glory.

1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory (above) in the heavens.  The King James says “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”

Notice the exclamation mark which David puts at the end of the first line of this psalm. One can sense his heartfelt worship as he meditates upon the Lord Jehovah who belongs to Israel but whose majesty and glory fills all creation. One can feel that David is a man who knows his Lord and is therefore very mindful of the glory attached to his name.

Spurgeon reminds us that “This Psalm is addressed to God, because “none but the Lord himself can fully know his own glory.” That glory is said, by the psalmist, to be above the heavens. It seems to me highly likely that what God has prepared for those who love him is directly connected to the glory of his own name. “… as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" -- the things God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2 v 9.

Another commentator, Derek Kidner, said “This psalm is an unsurpassed example of what a hymn should be, celebrating as it does, the glory and grace of God, rehearsing who He is and what He has done, and relating us and our world to Him; all with a masterly economy of words, and in a spirit of mingled joy and awe.”

In my lifetime I have observed a great many excellent people expressing their excitement about the diversity of life on this planet. I have also observed a great deal of awe and wonder, at the vast immensity of this universe we inhabit. Without a doubt human beings are very observant, very inventive and very communicative. Yet, although man is capable of inventing ways of seeing vast distances into the universe, when it comes to his Creator, he is often a fool who cannot see beyond the end of his nose.

Some people think man’s gifts and attributes are a matter of pure chance. As a believer I am mindful of the fact that such attributes exist because that is the way God created man and women in his own image. Some people are just unwilling to be mindful of God’s glory but God will not allow man to be unmindful of his glory.

We should tremble at the fact that God is mindful of his own glory. Through the prophet Isaiah, in chapter 42 verse 8, the Lord says - "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

The amazing thing about the majesty and glory of God is that it is so close to us that we miss it! Even as believers we can often take God’s glory for granted. It is reflected by everything the Lord has created on earth and in heaven. Every creature, every plant; every planet and every star has God’s signature of ownership upon it. As David says in psalm 24 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” And in Psalm 19 “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

The Scriptures make it clear that being made in the image of God leaves him without any excuse whatsoever for not giving God all the glory that is due to his name. For man to glory in himself, or in creation itself, is an act of eternal folly.

Like all men, I once lived in a darkness of my own making. I did not give to the Lord any of the glory due to his name. I could not address myself to Lord and exclaim “my Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth.” I did not accept that as a creature I belonged to God; that it was only because of him that I lived and breathed and had my being.

Now, by the grace of God in Jesus Christ, I can see that all creation is an expression and reflection of God’s glory. Every flower has a brighter hue because it reflects God’s glory. Jeff Mowery’s hymn has expressed it beautifully-: Heaven above is softer blue, Earth around is sweeter green; Something lives in every hue Christless eyes have never seen."

Despite all that man has done to distort the image of God in himself, Psalm 8 gives us every assurance that we can rejoice in what the Lord is  doing to reveal his glory in one particular man; one who has been called in Scripture as the second Adam.

To say that man, in his sins, is cut off from God is not to say that God is cut off from man. There are many ways in which God’s will is sovereign will is expressed through the actions of man. In verse 2 we see this demonstrated by what the psalmist has to say about children and infants. I think the fact that God can speak through children is a very salutary lesson for adults.

Verse 2 “Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”

When Jesus brought down a curse on Capernaum for their hard-hearted unbelief, he said "… I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment, than for you."   In the very next verse we have - “At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.26 Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.” Matthew 11 v 24 – 25.

What impact did Jesus have on children? I rather think that they reacted to him in a way that very few adults did. Verse 2 in Psalm 8 is quoted by Jesus in Matthew 21 verses 16.

He was in the Temple area and had driven out all who were buying and selling there. He was overturning tables; he accused them of turning God's house of prayer into a den of robbers; the blind and the lame were coming to him to be healed. “But when the chief priests and teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, `From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise?'

How is it possible that little children can be a stronghold against God's enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger? Children are capable of confounding the evil work of Satan in adults by the things they recognize about good and evil.

One commentator from Puritan days (Thomas Goodwin) suggested that the praise that Jesus Christ inspired in children was also to bring confusion and revenge upon Satan, who was the cause of man's fall. Jesus is that seed of the women who came to break the serpents head. Children rejoice when they see the serpent’s head is broken.

Can you recall your own experience as children? Did you grow up getting excited when the bad guys put a stop to Hopalong Cassidy or the Lone Ranger? Did you rejoice when the Sheriff of Nottingham got his clutches on Robin Hood or were you elated when he escaped? Were you not relieved ladies when Maid Marion was rescued by Robin from the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham?

Do you know that there has been research done with babies using role play with puppets? The research indicated that even babies can identify with the good puppets rather than the naughty selfish puppets. They are more attracted to the puppets that are treated badly and seem to agree when naughty puppets are punished.

Surely, we enjoyed seeing our heroes overcome the villains because there is a sense of right and wrong designed into our make-up. Good and evil is far more black and white to children. They rejoice in seeing evil crushed and Jesus came to crush the head of our enemy.

If infants saw something of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, then children should also see be something of the image of God in the faces of Christians.

I was talking to M. S on the phone recently. He was telling about a man who, as a child had been in contact with B. B.  B.B. must have been involved with the children's work many years ago and, after many years this man had got back in contact with B. This man has a history drug and alcohol abuse and of broken relationships but he remembered B as someone who he could trust and M.S believes he may now have come to faith in Christ.

Brethren - The Lord is always mindful of his own Name. It has an excellence which should always inspire our worship and promote our willingness to exclaim that excellence.

Secondly –The Lord is always mindful of mankind.

Man, in his fallen state, is not mindful of God’s glory. This begs the question which is put by the Psalmist in verse 4 – “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” ESV

Let me read this Psalm from the perspective of the Living Bible Translation.

O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name fills all the earth and overflows the heavens. ² You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies!

³ When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— ⁴ I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!

⁵ And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels and placed a crown of glory and honour upon his head.

⁶ You have put him in charge of everything you made; everything is put under his authority:⁷ all sheep and oxen, and wild animals too, ⁸ the birds and fish, and all the life in the sea.⁹ O Jehovah, our Lord, the majesty and glory of your name fills the earth.

What makes man so special?

This how a man called Christopher Sturm put it.

“How admirable are those celestial bodies! I am dazzled with their splendour and enchanted with their beauty! But notwithstanding this, however beautiful, and however richly adorned, yet the sky is void of intelligence. It is a stranger to its own beauty, while I, who am mere clay moulded by a divine hand, am endowed with sense and reason.” Christopher Sturm's Reflections.

The Prophet Isaiah gives one answer the question in chapter 40 of his book.

“A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
7The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

These verses speak of the fragile beauty and loveliness of man compared to the enduring quality of God's eternal Word. Just as the grass and flowers display the glory of God – their beauty and loveliness fade very quickly. Whatever beauty and loveliness attaches to man, it fades and dies very quickly. Whatever else man has become he was created by God to reflect his glory. God has not abandoned that plan and he is forever mindful of mankind. Calvin says - “It is a marvelous thing that God thinks upon men and remembers them continually.”

We have the Creator God, whose name is majestic in all the earth; whose glory is above the heavens, and we have the question – Why is God so mindful of man? The answer can only be that God is so mindful of man because he is so mindful of his own glory. All the OT points to coming of a very special man. Without a shadow of a doubt, man was ultimately created to reflect the glory of God which is in the face of Jesus Christ.

Man has been made a little lower than the angels but he has been crowned with glory and honour to rule over creation. That mysterious writer of the Hebrews was inspired by the Holy Spirit to identify Jesus as the man who was particularly in God’s mind when Psalm 8 was written.

“It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking.⁶ But, there is a place where someone has testified:

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
⁷ You made them a little^[a] lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honour
⁸     and put everything under their feet.”

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. ⁹ But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

¹⁰ In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. ¹¹ Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.^{”  Hebrews 2 6-11}

All God’s purposes were planned in eternity before the eternal Word became flesh and dwelt among us. “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” Colossians 1 verse 16.

I think we need to constantly remind ourselves how God sees those he made in his own image. Our attitude to the lost is not to be so judgmental that we leave no place for God’s perfect judgement. King David was often used by God as an instrument of God’s judgement but he could still ask a very important question. “What is man that you are mindful of him?”

Brethren - The Lord is always mindful of mankind. We were created in God’s image so that the name of the Lord would be majestic; (excellent) in all the earth and glorious above the heavens. Each of us is a unique individual but with that glorious prospect of reflecting the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!

Finally – The Lord is always mindful of his own glory.

9 “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

How will the Lord ultimately be mindful of his own glory? All of God’s glory, in relation man, is invested in the Person and Name of his Son Jesus Christ. The excellence of that Name is to be glorified in all the earth and above the heavens.

Let me pose a basic question. What is the chief grounds upon which the justice of God condemns sinners but redeems saints? It cannot be that men and women have somehow impressed God so that he is more mindful of them as subjects for redemption. As Paul says “… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3 verse 23. All men are without excuse; all have suppressed the truth about God in their unrighteousness and have chosen not to know him and give the glory due to his name.

The most obvious answer to that basic question what is the chief grounds for God’s judgement on sinners but to pardon some in his Son is possibly the most profound and controversial aspect of that question – “what is man that you are mindful of him?”

God has never changed the rules; never changed the goal posts as it were. Man is responsible and accountable for his sin and God is responsible and accountable for salvation from sin. Jesus makes it abundantly clear when he said “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. John 3 verse 18.”

Two verses before this Jesus has given us what may be the best known verse in the Bible. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” He followed that verse up with “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Condemnation, therefore, is removed from sinners who believe in Jesus but is remains on them who do not believe in Jesus. Paul says, in his second letter to the Thessalonians 1 v 8, ^“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.”

On the day of his second coming the verdict of Jesus upon those who do not know God is to tell them plainly - 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' Sinners are forever banished because they cannot reflect the glory of God’s grace in salvation. They must reflect the glory of God in the righteous judgement upon their sins.

2 Thessalonians 1 verse 9 says “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.” Hendriksen tells us “This banishment from loving fellowship with Christ implies expulsion from the glory (radiant splendour) of his might as it is manifested in the salvation of his saints.”

Hebrews 9 v 26 -28 tells us “But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.  Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”

There has not been any change of the rules in respect of OT saints because their salvation is as much by grace as it is for NT saints. Whereas our faith in Christ looks back, their faith looked forwards. “… The hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes. See the Lord is coming with fire …” Isaiah 66 v 14 -15

When the Lord is said to be mindful of man it is a question of what he has done and what he is doing to glorify Jesus Christ his Son. That mindfulness affects what God has done for the glory of Jesus in respect of his enemies and in respect of those he purchased with his own blood.

Again, as Hendiksen points out - On the day the Lord is revealed with his angels from heaven - God will be glorified in his saints; not merely among them.  “…that is, they will reflect his light, his attributes as, in principle, they do even now. Every vestige of sin will have been banished from their soul. They will mirror forth his image and walk in the light of his countenance.  God will rejoice over them; the angels will rejoice over them; the redeemed will rejoice over that reflection of Christ they will see in each other.”

“Not only will Christ rejoice over the reflection of his own image in them, he will rejoice in their joy. His glory will be reflected in them and in their joy. Does this not bring to mind that verse which says – “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12 v 2.

In the new heavens and the new earth the exclamation of David – “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens,” will have a fullness of meaning beyond what we can now think or imagine. At present our thoughts as to the glory of God are as through a glass darkly. “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13 verse 12.

Let me conclude with an exhortation from Psalm 96.

Through the Psalmist the Lord commands the earth to tremble at his presence. The Lord commands all creation to rejoice before him. “Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” v 13

All the families of the nations are commanded to - sing, proclaim, declare, praise, speak, ascribe, rejoice in the fullness of the Lord's splendour and majesty; in the fullness of the Lord's strength and glory.

Lord does not only command people; the Lord commands all his creation by saying “Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.”

Like David we should exclaim the excellence of the Lord's Name. Above all things the Lord is mindful of his own Name; he is mindful of mankind and he is mindful of his own glory. We can be certain that when the Lord comes to judge all the earth, if we know the Lord now, we will also rejoice in his image and likeness in the world to come. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2 v 14. Amen.

 25.08.14