Plot twist: the last seven chapters of Psalms have focused a lot on the world of enemies, wicked people and distorted justice, but Psalm 8 takes a completely different turn. In case you didn’t know, the number 8 is significant throughout the scriptures and often represents a new beginning or regeneration. Psalm 8 beautifully celebrates the dignity of God’s original creation, giving hope for weary souls.

For most of us, self preservation has been encouraged. No one wants to be a doormat or feel as though they have been walked over, but the degree to which most of us go to make sure that doesn’t happen can become misaligned with the character of Jesus and quite frankly cause us to respond no differently than the world does.

Please don’t misunderstand me: God is NOT okay with any kind of abuse..mental, physical or emotional in personal relationships. That is not what I am referencing. However, it isn’t crystal clear who the Psalms are referring to when they talk about “enemies” or “oppressors”. This is something the Holy Spirit would need to define in your life.

You might call this something more along the lines of someone “done us wrong” and instead of being able to “make allowance for each other’s faults”(Colossians 3:13), we are immediately offended and our eyes are drawn away from the Lord and focused only on the offense to the point of it being all consuming or even just an ongoing festering wound. 

My point is that God has so much more for us, but it requires us to take on an attitude of humility. Humility is not popular in our culture. It even seems to be a topic that is avoided even in the church and yet Christ was our perfect example and he was exactly that: humble. (To read the rest of the devotional, please go to durendawilson.com)