The LORD Has Been Mindful of Me #1 – Psalm 8

In Psalm 8, we read that very vital question that David the psalmist asks of the LORD: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?” We might just simply ask it this way: “Who or what am I?” In the next few articles, we will consider this all important life-changing question from this splendid little psalm. But first before looking at this question of who I am from this particular psalm, it is helpful to look at Psalm 8 and its relationship with its neighboring psalms.

The Book of Psalms opens with a prologue of the first two psalms. These important psalms serve to “open the door” to the entire collection of the psalms; they present a choice to the individual (Psalm 1) and to nations (Psalm 2) of the path of righteousness or way of wickedness, and they show the rewards of each.

The next several psalms (with Psalm 8 in their center–it is like a hinge in the middle of all the psalms) all seem to be related and connected with Psalm 8. Psalms 3-7 are laments and present an individual (namely David) who is dealing with problems in life. David, in these psalms, presents his problem and cries out to God. Check out the last lines of these psalms and note how the Lord has been mindful of Him (Psalm 3:8; Psalm 4:7-8; Psalm 5:11-12; Psalm 6:9; Psalm 7:17). Isn’t it interesting that these laments end on such a positive note?

Psalms 9 and 10 are related to Psalm 8 in that they continue to praise the Lord for His many wonderful characteristics. Then, Psalm 11-14 pick up with many of the same things which were seen in Psalms 3-7. Again, notice the statements in these psalms [in most cases, found at the end of the psalm] where time and again the psalmist speaks of the Lord’s concern (Psalm 11:7; Psalm 12:5; Psalm 13:5-6; Psalm 14:7).

Psalm 3 through Psalm 14 could be put under a heading of the title of the familiar song “The Lord has Been Mindful of Me.” What an edifying thought. The Lord is concerned about us in no matter what difficult circumstance we find ourselves. In the next installment, we will look at how Psalms 1, 2 and 15 also connect to this hinge.

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Filed under: Devotional, Michael Carter, Uncategorized on July 23rd, 2008