Known

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8:3-4

    King David, as he writes Psalm 8, is amazed at this one simple truth:  God cares for him!  David looks at God’s creation, all that he can see, the towering mountains, the roaring waves of the sea, the vibrant colors of the sky, the vast creativity found in the different beasts of the earth, the shining of the moon and the stars, the sheer expanse of God’s universe and is just overwhelmed by the truth that God cares for him.  King David is keenly aware that the God of the universe knows that he exists and is in awe.  He understands that man, created in God’s very image, has been given a place of honor and responsibility over God’s creation and he is marveling at the graciousness of a God who would do such a thing.  David’s posture is something to behold and something to be replicated.  He is savoring the goodness of God and overcome by His glory as he reflects on the reality that God knows him, cares for him and has given him standing in God’s own creation.  

    When is the last time that we reflected on this reality?  We have spent so much of our lives trying to make ourselves known to the “right” people.  In middle school and high school we desperately wanted to be known by these “right” people.  As we have grown older we have strived in our workplaces and in our neighborhoods to be once again known by whoever these “right” people are.  Even if we are not boisterous and would rather exist behind the scenes, there is something in our hearts that desires to be known by someone.  Truly known!  We want to be noticed, appreciated, cared for, seen as valuable and treasured either for who we are or for what we are able to do.  All the while, as we scurry about trying to make ourselves visible, King David drops this truth right into our very laps:  God cares for us!  Seems simple enough.  So simple that we’ve been told this since we were little children.  Yet, this is the problem.  The amazing truth that God knows us and cares for us no longer overwhelms.  It no longer amazes.  It has become just another concept…we think of it as something that God is required to do…much like a parent must know and care for their kids.  We must ask the Holy Spirit of God to open our eyes anew, though, to this weighty truth!  The God over all the universe, Creator God, knows us in the way that we most want to be known.  He knows us intimately as a Creator knows His creation.  He cherishes us intimately as a Father cherishes His child.  He knows our best and our worst and still His love and care are unending.  We are known by the One who gives meaning and purpose to all things.  We are known by the One who gives life and joy and salvation.  God is zealous for us to know that He knows us.  Our God is a God who pursues His people in order that they would know that they are known.  God is relentless in making us aware that we are known, not simply so that we can rest in this truth alone, but so that we can know the One who knows us.  Because God knows us, He has in turn given us the gift of knowing Him!  Simply amazing.  Church, let us look around and be amazed at all that God has made, and then may be overcome with joy and praise that this same God who made all things for His glory knows and cares for us and has allowed us to know Him as well.  Praise God!   

PRAYER OF THE DAY: God, thank you for knowing me and caring for me.  Help me to understand the depths of this amazing gift.