More Reason to Wonder
God’s Majesty in the Psalmist’s Eyes
Imagine you’re an ancient Israelite working in the fields, about to end your day’s labor with a nice evening walk through the bountiful hills of the Judean desert. You see the glimmer of the moon as it rises on the horizon, meeting up with the rest of the stars as they come into view one by one, then two by two. Soon, your whole view is dazzled by the remote points of light of the Milky Way itself, swathing bands of dust and gases illuminating the display with a most potent magnificence.
King David knew the feeling well. In Psalm 8:3-4 he said: “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?”
Awe at Creation in Our Modern Era
Come back to the 21st century now. You’re a modern believer once more, one who has access to the recesses of the farthest reaches of the universe. If David was in awe of God in seeing thousands of stars, not even knowing what they were composed of, how much more shall we wonder, seeing the vastness of the universe in a way an ancient man never could?
David was a man after God’s own heart, showing us a perfect example of how to live and walk with our Blessed Savior. This man, full of wonder at the greatness of God, only saw a fraction of the visible universe. A fraction of the Milky Way galaxy, even. Sizing down the view even further, he only saw one arm of the Milky Way, with a hint of a second arm. The Milky Way has 200 billion stars within it according to some estimates. A stark contrast to what we can see with our eyes.
No Matter the Time Period, God’s Creative Prowess Is on Display
As the faithful, how often do we stop to ponder our place in this vast universe God has created? How often do we take for granted that the psalmist could only see less than a percent of the galaxy humans call home?
Think about it. David felt like a speck on the sand of the seashore, insignificant and humbled by the awesome power of our Creator. With a sliver of a percent of God’s majesty available to him.
Man is lower than the angels, but still crowned with glory and honor over creation. We are put here to have dominion over the works of God’s hands, which someday might include the universe, God willing.
St. Augustine Knew of the Wonders We Confirm
In his most known work, Confessions, St. Augustine paralleled our modern understanding of how the universe came to be. He, too, didn’t have the vast array of telescopes and modern cosmological understanding. But he did know that God — being separate from His creation —made all things from nothing — the heavenly spheres bearing witness to His imperceivable power and wisdom.
Let Us Remain Humble
Modern humans have even more reason to wonder after God’s creative glory, and even more reason to feel small.
We can see the very beginning of creation, billions of light-years away from our home planet.
If the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, then the knowledge of His creative power is the beginning of our wonder. Next time you’re on your nightly walk, look up to the heavens and revere the fraction of God’s glory you can see. Our Father, who is in heaven, knows how to make you feel humbled.
And humility, they say, is one of the truest traits of a saint.
