What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Psalm 8:4-5
Crowned with Glory and Honor
The news recently showed a horrible bus accident. A school bus carrying dozens of children crashed into a tree, turned over on its side, and left such a mangled mess that it took six hours to get everyone out of the bus. The result was devastating. Many were injured. Five children died. The news showed a picture of the bus driver responsible for the accident. The picture they showed was taken after the accident; after the young man had been charged with a crime and taken to the police station. It was his mugshot. And something about the picture jumped out at me. I noticed his eyes. They were bloodshot, as if he had been crying very deeply, no doubt because the reality of what he did began to sink in.
He's not the only one to see eyes like that when he looks in the mirror. I have too. I'm guessing you have as well. Maybe you never caused a devastating accident, but you may have done something that caused someone else to feel pain. You may have been reckless with your life, or with someone else's. You may have hurt someone's feelings. You may have had a day on which you were surprised by how easy it was to do the wrong thing, or to think of yourself at the expense of someone else. There are any number of reasons you might know what it's like to look in the mirror and feel shame.
How remarkable, then, is the assurance we find in this psalm, that our God not only still cares for us, but covers our shame with a crown of glory and honor; a crown that was given when the Son of God came into this world covered with soft, newborn baby skin that one day would be mangled on a cross so that all of our sin, guilt, and shame could be forgiven.
Whenever the reality of your sin begins to sink in, look to the cross of Jesus and remember the reality of God's enduring care for all mankind.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for your gracious care over our lives. Help us to see and appreciate the crown of glory that covers our shame, earned for us by our Savior Jesus. Amen.
The devotions on Thursdays and Fridays in December lead us in Songs from the Psalms.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
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