Psalm 8 is not a long psalm, but a jam-packed psalm that defines the glory and majesty of our Lord. In it we see the heavens, children, animals, birds, man, and fish used to reflect the glory of God. 

I was particularly taken with the verse 2, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength.” Children have a way of praising God that amazes me. Their simple, honest, and often amusing way of explaining and worshipping God puts us to shame as adults. Somewhere along the way we lose that pure uninhibited joy of expressing our praise of the living God.

Who of us hasn’t smiled at the child in church dancing and singing their little hearts out during the worship time in church? In Matthew 21:15-16 it says, “But when the chief priests and scribes saw all the wonderful things He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they became indignant and said to Him, ‘Do you hear what these children are saying?’ And Jesus said to them, ‘Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise for yourself?’” We can’t miss this little gem of Jesus’ reference to the children and their innocent display of showing glory to God.

Many years ago while teaching a second grade Sunday school class, I asked the question, “How would you define sin?” One little boy, with very little hesitation, said, “Sin is sorta like when my cat gets a hairball.” My mind was racing to come to an understanding of this. I realized that in this childish explanation there was truth. A hairball must be very painful for a cat. Since a cat doesn’t have dignity, depravity, or destiny, and as Ben used a cat as an example in his message Sunday, I could possibly use this!

He said, “The image of God is in every person, we were created with great purpose; we represent Him. No other created being or thing possesses God’s image—not even cats.”

That little boy’s explanation of sin has long remained in my mind. Sin is not good, it’s painful and has devastating effects in our lives and in the world, and yet in verse five of Psalm 8, it says “God has made man a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and majesty.” Ben went on to say that God has given us a job to do, and we need to consider this a privilege. Our job is to reflect the majesty and splendor of our Lord. How do we do this? We do this by using the gifts He has given us, reflecting His light in a dark world, and remembering from whence we came. 

If nature can reflect God with displays in the heavens and earth, and children’s heartfelt joy of worship can as well, then can’t we as adults do the same?

Side note: We have a neighborhood cat that taunts our dogs and sometimes sits on our porch like he owns it. Ben keeps asking me who owns that cat. I have no explanation, other than the cat knows Ben doesn’t like cats. A constant reminder that sin is always lurking trying to establish residency in our lives. Preventing the hairball of sin in our lives requires us to reflect on the majesty and splendor of a living God who has a sense of humor too!