In my personal study—and then in Church this Sunday—the focus was on Psalm 8. Does that ever happen to you? In such moments God feels like the Verizon guy, repeating, “Can you hear me now?”
When it happens I do my best to lean in and see what it is he has for me. Psalm 8 begins and ends with these captivating words:
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8:1, 9
A quick lookup on Blue Letter Bible.org (a great resource for topical study by the way) shows that, depending on the translation, the word majestic appears about 25 times in scripture, mostly to describe God, but sometimes his creation as well: mountains, stars in procession and even a tree in Ezekiel 31:7: It was majestic in beauty, with its spreading boughs, for its roots went down to abundant waters.
Majestic comes from the Hebrew word addiyr (ad-deer) and means wide or generally large, figuratively powerful, excellent, famous, gallant, glorious, goodly, lordly, mighty or the mightier one, noble, principal, worthy.
My breath caught and my eyes welled as our pastor displayed image after image of God’s creation and asked us to respond together, “O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name!”
What comes to your mind when you think of majestic? What is wide and large in your mind—the night sky? What is powerful—the ocean? What is excellent, famous, glorious?
As you ponder the images this definition conjures for you, will you hear God’s invitation to testify that all of these, as majestic as they are, are dwarfed in majesty next to their creator who is wider and larger, more powerful and excellent, more famous and glorious, mightier and most of all the only One worthy of our praise and wonder.
What would it look like if we entered today and each day repeating this simple exercise? Pausing just long enough throughout our days to soak in the glory that surrounds us and allow our souls to utter those simple, yet evocative words of worship:
O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Psalm 8: 1
Faith Runner 
I remember the first spring after my release from prison. It was the spring of 2015. I left the Mission which is only a few short blocks from the Capitol building in DC and I was walking to a small group with men from the church I had joined. That walk found me strolling through the park across the street from Union Station, very close to the Senate office buildings. Everything was in full bloom, which to most busy people goes unnoticed, unless of course you have allergies.
But I had come from a prison in southern Louisiana and there is not much around that blooms or blossoms on a prison compound. Prior to that, I had lived 5 years in south Florida – not much evidence of spring there either. Before that, 12 in Dallas, Tx and while there is slightly more in that area, the full glory of spring was never quite there. Before that I had lived 23 years in southern California, and we all know there is no spring there.
So why bore you with all of this?
Because as I walked through that park in the spring of 2015, my eyes were suddenly opened to the fact that everything around me was coming to life, and the the majesty of God, His greatness, and His glory, suddenly became very evident to me, and I realized just how incredible His power is and how wonderfully intricate and detailed His creation is.
Thanks for bringing back the intensity of that spring, Nanette. You are right:
“O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8: 1
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Tony so good to hear from you my friend. The power of your testimony is never a bore to me—it inspires and challenges me. Thank you, friend$
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