Pray:
Ask God to orient or reorient you to Himself. Confess any known sin. Thank Him for His forgiveness. Be still and reflect on Jesus and His sacrifice for you. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind to God’s Word. Pray for others in your life that they, too, would know and love God today.
Read:
Psalm 8
“1 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Understand:
A messianic psalm is an Old Testament psalm that references attributes specifically applied to Christ and quoted in the New Testament. Psalm 8 is recognized as one. You can find Psalm 8 referenced in the New Testament in: Matt. 21:16, Heb. 2:6-8, 1 Cor. 15:27, and Eph. 1:22.
Psalm 8:2 says “through the praise of children and infants (God Himself) has established a stronghold against (our) enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” Who are the enemies? Those who fail to see the majesty of the LORD.
The psalmist tells us that God is evident in all creation, if only people would open their eyes to see it. The planets, the stars, the limited universe can only give us a partial view of the greatness of God. And still, people shrug off the evidence they see as if it doesn’t exist. Yet, the youngest among us, in their innocent faith, proclaim God’s greatness and silence the foe.
In Matthew chapter 21, children were praising Jesus as He entered Jerusalem. The enemies of Jesus were the chief priest and the teachers; they were the ones who were showing displeasure. When questioned about whether or not He heard what the children were saying, Jesus’ response was, “Yes.” He went on to say, “Have you not read, from the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” (Matt. 21:16) It is the praise of these children that silenced the enemy!
Apply:
In Matthew 11:25 Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.” Jesus was talking about two kinds of people here: those who were wise in their own eyes and those who admit their lack of wisdom and knowledge. The latter received a revelation of Him “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2.3) This is what a child-like faith is like; we see Jesus’ disciples having this kind of faith. They embraced Jesus like a child and later would go on to bear powerful testimony to His identity.
At times, it can be hard for us to trust and praise God without doubts or reservations, especially as we get older. We live in this “already, not yet” world. We know that we’ve been made new, but we still live in these old bodies. We live in a world that has been broken by sin. Disease and sickness still affect our mortal bodies as we live out our days awaiting the consummation (completeness) of Christ Jesus, when all things will be made right.
What do we do with this? We humbly come before Jesus; we place our trust in Him and we look forward to His return. We place our hope—our child-like hope—in Him. We trust Christ as we obediently follow His will. We ask Him to remove any barriers to having a closer relationship with Him, and we ask for the strength to live for Him. We say “Yes” to Him alone.
Live:
(Personalize this prayer today; make it specific to the circumstances that face you.)
Ask God to lead you through His Spirit as you go through your day. Ask Him to bring to mind the truth of the gospel and its implications for what you will encounter today. Tell Him “Yes” to His will and ask Him for His power and protection to live this “yes.” Ask God to create and reveal opportunities to proclaim the good news today. KEEP PRAYING THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY.