This article first appeared on The Christian Broadcasting Network |
I remember the first time I read Psalm 8 and the question David asked God:
“What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” Psalm 8:4 (NKJV)
I thought it was the perfect question to ask of God.
I had always struggled with self-worth. It was easy to see my shortcomings and therefore hard to see why God (or anyone) would like me. By the time I had given my heart to Jesus at age 21, I had unfortunately lived more life than I wanted anyone to know. And although my salvation was authentic — I desperately needed God — I couldn’t fathom why God wanted me. I was grateful for the promise of a home in heaven but assumed the rest of my life would be a vicious cycle of pitiful prayers and scrape-by-until-you-arrive.
So you can imagine my delight as His Word began to open my heart up to things I never considered. Things like restoration, the old made new, real joy, real peace, and an understanding of what it means to be the righteousness of God in Christ.
Little by little, as Paul said God would do, the eyes of my understanding opened and I could see through the eyes of faith for the first time. But again, when I read David’s question, I thought, “That’s the question I’d ask God too.”
The Passion Translation says: “Compared to all this cosmic glory, why would you bother with puny, mortal man or be infatuated with Adam’s sons? Yet what honor you have given to men, created only a little lower than Elohim, crowned like kings and queens with glory and magnificence. You have delegated to them mastery over all you have made, making everything subservient to their authority, placing earth itself under the feet of your image-bearers” (Psalm 8:4-6, TPT).
David answered His own question. I assume by the Holy Spirit, but there it was, the answer to why God would pay attention to humans who are daily prone to fail in some way or another. And the answer was that we were created only a little lower than Himself.
Elohim is the Hebrew name for God. Some Bible translations say “angels” but the original word is Elohim and it means the one true God and describes God as Creator, King, Judge, and Savior.
God (Elohim) is mindful of us because we are made in His image, just a little lower than Himself. This is how we were created, and regardless of the fall, how God still sees us. It is also the entire reason Jesus came to redeem us back to our Father. The Bible says in Genesis 1:26 that man was made in God’s image with the purpose of having dominion. And Psalm 115:16 says the earth was given to the children of men. In other words, God’s original plan for mankind was always to bear the authority of His kingdom as sons and daughters on the earth.
No wonder God has tried every possible way to communicate His love to us. The enemy hatched a plan of lies and we fell for it. We believed it when Satan said we were worthless. But God loved us first and would stop at nothing until we believed His Truth.
For me, it started at salvation and was made real in front of my mirror when He said to me, “Tell her you love her and forgive her.” For the first time, in that moment, I realized it wasn’t God who didn’t love me. Daphne didn’t love Daphne. I had believed a lie.
So why does God bother with us? Because we were made in His image, with a special purpose, and God’s love wouldn’t allow Him to leave us broken.
