SUMMARY
God and God’s creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... are majestic and awesome, sometimes making humans feel puny and insignificant. Yet God thinks otherwise: God has created humans, too, with glory and honor.
ANALYSIS
This short hymn is surrounded by an inclusioInclusio is a literary device in which a writer places similar material at the beginning and ending of a work or section of a work. For example, Mark's gospel contains an inclusio in which Jesus is recognized (at his baptism and crucifixion) as God's Son. that praises the majesty of God’s name. The “name” of God surrounds the pray-er in the psalmA psalm is a song of praise. In the Old Testament 150 psalms comprise the psalter, although some of the psalms are laments and thanksgivings. In the New Testament early Christians gathered to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs., just as God’s presence surrounds the community in the templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... as they sing this psalm.
“What are human beings that you are mindful of them?” wonders the poet at the heart of this psalm–a sentiment familiar to all as they contemplate the vast heavens. But the psalm offers hope and promise, because heavens and humans are made by the same loving Creator. Indeed, God has made humans “a little lower than God” (NRSV)–though the NIV’s “a little lower than the heavenly beings” may be a better translation of the Hebrew.
Because of the “glory and honor” given them by God, humans “have dominion” over the works of God’s creation (vv. 6-8). It does remain God’s creation, however (“the works of your hands”), so “dominion” cannot mean the authority to do whatever humans want to do. In fact, in the PsalterThe psalter is a volume containing the book of Psalms (see Psalm). In the early Middle Ages psalters were popular and contained - in addition to the psalms - calendars, litanies of saints, and other devotional texts. we learn the best sense of “dominion”–not exploitation, but the kind of rule that “delivers the needy,” “has pity on the weak,” and ensures “abundance of grain in the land” for all (Psalm 72:8; see vv. 12-13, 16). Only exercising that kind of servant-dominion can qualify as God-pleasing.
