Subscription Lists

Some questions seek information; some questions are posed for effect; some questions are rhetorical. Today’s question (i.e. What is man that You [God] are mindful of him?) is a question of wonderment and awe. On the one hand, God is so mighty and magnificent; on the other hand, man is so weak and non-spectacular. These things being true, why would God stoop to even check on us? Why would He even care? The eighth Psalm answers these questions. Consider the following excerpt and comments.

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen—Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8.3-9).

The universe (the moon and stars as referred to in the Psalm) is a huge place; its immensity defies human understanding! When it is necessary to measure space in terms of light years the mind of the ordinary human being is quickly stretched beyond its capacity. For instance it is thought that the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years in diameter. Considering that light can travel from the sun to the earth (93 million miles) in about 8.3 minutes, the distance that light can travel in an hour becomes over 672 million miles! How large is a light year? Simple! Multiply the distance that light travels in an hour by the number of hours in a year (8760) and you have the distance it can travel in a year (just under 5.9 trillion miles).

Considering that light travels almost 6 trillion miles per year and that the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years across, the universe is a HUGE EXPANSE! Man on the other hand may grow to be about 6 feet tall. The average man’s height (six feet or so) compared to the distance to Andromeda’s (our nearest star excluding the sun) is not even a proverbial drop in the bucket! These two measurement (the height of a man versus the distance to Andromeda) cannot even be measured on the same scale! Yet, God created the vast expanse we call space and shortly thereafter created the tiny creature which He called man! The Psalmist’s question is well taken; why does God pay us any mind? We are but less than a tiny spec in the larger scale of things. Why did He create the entirety of the universe and then create man as a crowning act?

Read the rest of the Psalm . “For You [God] have made him [man] a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen—Even the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.” Thinking like this helps us to focus our minds upon who we really are and avoid thinking about what we are not!

We are not a product of random chance. We are special in some ways. While the view of the universe may have been geocentric a few years ago, switching that view for one which merely makes man a byproduct of the process is certainly no better! God made man for a specific purpose and He loved us enough to empty heaven of its greatest treasure just for us! Man has a place in this universe and it is not insignificant!

Questions:

1. What is a light year?

2. Why are light years used in measurements concerning the universe?

3. How do we know that we (humanity) are special in God’s eyes?

4. If man is not a unique creature in God’s creation, then what is he? Is he special at all? Do those who take position that man is a product of chance (evolution) see man as special? If yes, in what sense?

"Point of Reference" from Fred Price

Called To Brokenness