“You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”
– Psalm 8:5–8
As we continue these 31 days of prayer during the middle of this presidential election in the United States. As a reminder, you can download just a prayer guide for these 31 days at radical.net. And you can find out more information there also about the short book that I recently wrote, just called, Before You Vote: Seven Questions Every Christian Should Ask.
But our aim and even praying on these episodes during these days is to turn our attention to God and his word, and to make sure we are not being conformed to the pattern of this world, we’re being transformed by the renewing of our minds. And we’re praying according to God’s Word amidst all kinds of discussions and debates and all kinds of other things in a political season that our minds are set on things above that God’s Word is directing the way we think and the way we pray during these days. So in light of that, let’s meditate and pray according to Psalm 8:5–8 today.
Humanity has been Crowned in Glory and Honor
The majestic Ruler of creation has crowned humanity in glory and honor.
The Bible says, “You have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.” I’m going to go and read verse nine too. It says, “Oh Lord, oh Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”
So get the picture in these verses. God, whose majesty is over all the earth we prayed according to Psalm 22:28, a couple of days ago, kingship belongs to the Lord. He rules over the nations. So God is the creator, sovereign majestic ruler over all the earth and verse five. So in light of that, now picture verse five, “Yet you have made him,” talking about God creating man and woman. What we read and prayed according to you yesterday and Genesis 1:26-28, men and women created in God’s image, a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:5–8 Thanks God for Creating Us in His Image
So we are crowned by the majestic, sovereign ruler of creation. We are crowned with glory and honor. Every single person made in God’s image, crowned with glory and honor, and given dominion in the world. Psalm 8:6 says, “You’ve put all things under his feet, sheep, oxen, beasts of the fields, birds of the heavens fish of the sea, whatever passed along the paths of the sea.” All things are under the feet of men and women made in God’s image.
This is startling in its reality application in our lives that God has given you and me, us as his image bearers, his authority to care for the world around us, to live in the world around us in ways that reflect his love and his character. This is awesome. There are so much we could talk about here. So much we can pray about based on this, but just think about it. As citizens of the United States or any country where we live, God has given us authority and opportunity in this world to reflect his character, his goodness, his wisdom, his justice, his mercy in the world around us.
Our Responsibility to Reflect Christ
That’s opportunity and that’s responsibility. And that is part of what government is all about. An institution created by God to provide for the good of people, so. Oh, so much to pray for here. God we pray. One in awe of who you’ve made us to be and the responsibility and opportunity you’ve entrusted to us. We praise you as your image bearers, and we pray, we want to reflect your good and wise and righteous rule of authority in the world around us.
God, we want to reflect your justice. We want to reflect your mercy. We want to reflect your goodness in the world around us. So help each of us to do that today. God, in our lives and our work and our relationships help us to be a reflection of your character for the good of people around us. For the good of people in our homes. For the good of people in our neighborhoods and for the good of people in the office next door. On the screen that we’re looking at or over Zoom or whatever it might be. God help us, help us to love, care for the people around us well. Your creation that you’ve entrusted to us. God help us to reflect your wisdom, your love, your mercy, your justice in all that we do.
Psalm 8:5–8 Prays for Government Leaders
And God, we pray for government leaders who will do the same. God we pray that our government would be an instrument in your hands. One that reflects your goodness and your wisdom and your justice and your mercy. God, we pray for that. And our government, we pray for that, and our government leaders. God, we pray for those who are leading us right now, even before an election.
God, we pray that you would help our government leaders to reflect your good rule in the way that they rule. And God, we pray that for future leaders. God, please by your mercy, grant us leaders who will reflect your good rule. Your wise rule, according to your word in ways that reflect your character in our country. In any country where we live in, the United States, other countries that people live in who are listening right now. God we pray that you would grant us leaders like that.
And God that you’d help us to live cognizant of this authority and responsibility you’ve given to each of us in our lives as your image bearers. We pray this according to Psalm 8:5–8. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
