Today we start a new series about the 'Missio Dei' - the mission of God.
To learn more about what God's mission is,
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We all need courage and comfort at various times in our lives.  This most well known of all psalms gives us strong language that we dare not miss. May the familiarity of the words not dampen their significance in our thinking!
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Today's psalm comes alongside of us in those particularly difficult seasons of life, when, for a wide variety of reasons, we feel lonely, sorrowful, anxious or full of grief. 
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Sadly, technical difficulties this morning prevented us from successfully recording the message! 
​What we notice in Psalm 8 is how different it is to the preceding 5 psalms!  Instead of equipping us with language with which to cry for help, this psalm breaks through with bright, uplifting music and lifts our eyes to the heavens (the vast universe in which we live) and calls us to be humbled at the size and grandeur of God's majesty displayed in the heavens.  The question that comes in response to this is: 'what is mankind'?  In comparison to the size of the heavens, we are nothing; insignificant!  However, the surprising answer comes from the story of Creation, 'you have made them a little lower than the heavenly beings and have crowned them with glory and honor!'  God, in his infinite Majesty, made us in His image and gives us the great privilege of relationship with Him!  We respond to this psalm by being humbled by His majesty; by honoring the privilege of relationship with him; and by taking seriously our commission to be good stewards of the beautiful earth on which we live!

These 2 psalms continue to cry out to God for help, but in particular, they give us language for evening prayers (Psalm 4) and morning prayers (Psalm 5).  They remind us of the critical importance of being attentive to God in the rhythm of daily life!
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As we seek to experience the psalms we notice that they give us language with which to speak with God about all kinds of different circumstances of life.  Psalm 3 gives us language to use when we're feeling desperate for help! 
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