Scripture References: Psalm 8
III. The Lord’s Passion
All of us have our lives guided by some passion, a force which drives us. Maybe it is a passion to achieve, or a passion to experience; but we are pushed by a passion. However, what pushes God? What drives God? What is the motivating force of God? Here it is delineated clearly in three ways. These stanzas tell us that God’s passion, first of all, is expressed in His coming to us. “What is man that you think about him and that you even care to visit him?” It is expressed in His caring for us. The word “visit” means to be concerned for. Who are we that God would care anything about us? So His passion is seen by His concern for us, His caring for us. Finally, it is revealed in His crowning us. “[He] crowned [man] with glory and with honor.” These are the passions that drive God, to come to us, to care for us, to crown us.
First, the psalmist notes as God comes to us, what is man? You’re mindful of him? The son of man that You visit him? Think about it. God is mindful of us. Wonderful. God is more interested in people than planets. God is more concerned about souls than stars. God cares more about us than the universe. The God of the telescope is also the God of the microscope. The God of the vastness of space is also the God of the specific reaches of my spirit.
There was a little girl who prayed, and as she prayed she talked about God “knowing my name.” She didn’t understand how it was phrased, but she prayed to a God in heaven who knows her name. God knows your name and who you are. God is mindful of you. The glory of God is not seen in dynamic, spectacular events, or in the intricate details of the universe. The glory of God is seen in that He comes to us. He wants to live in us, to dwell within our lives, and the intriguing fact we see at this point is found in the words for mankind in verse 4. Two different Hebrew words are used. The first one is the Hebrew word “enosh,” and it simply means mortal man, man in his weakness.
What is mortal man? What is weak, puny, sinful, helpless little man that you would think of him? In our weakness, in our helplessness, God cares for us and loves us. God is interested in us. God comes to us in our weakness, and it is magnified as you reach the second half of that verse. He says, “What is . . . the son of man?” (In the second Hebrew word for “man” is the word “adama,” from which we receive our word “Adam,” meaning dust). There is no definite article there, literally the Hebrew does not ask what is the son of man? but what is son of man? What is son of dust?
This is a phrase used without the definite article over one hundred times in the Old Testament, and it always means, “What is man as a descendant of Adam . . . just plain, puny, nameless man?” Yet God cares about insignificant, helpless, poor, weak you and me. There is the passion of God. He comes to us.
In the New Testament, however, the phrase is changed. The phrase, “the Son of man,” does have the definite article with it, and it always refers to Jesus. The usage is a vivid illustration that we only become the individuals God wants us to be through Jesus Christ.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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