the Bible: reading for identity

Last week we began this series on the Bible by running a quick overview of how we read the Bible in order to gain understanding. It is an acknowledgement that, at times, this collection of ancient documents can be confusing or difficult to understand if we are not approaching the word of God correctly.

This week let’s continue to push further into the word of God as something which gives important meaning to our lives. The Bible does not just reveal information about God, the Bible reveals purpose. In the words of scripture we find meaning for our lives, a reason for our existence, a way in which to see and make sense of the world around us. This is one of the reasons why it is so important that we as people of Christian faith regularly spend time in God’s word. It provides for us a lens through which we understand our world. The Bible provides a framework within which the rest of creation makes sense, along with our place in it.

the Bible provides “a peculiar insight…into the three fundamental relations of all human life: (1) our relation to God, (2) our relation to man, and (3) our relation to the world.”

We have a term for this. We call it a worldview. Within the world of the church we tend to refer to it as a biblical worldview. Years ago we might have referred to it as bit more narrowly as a reformed worldview. This comes from the Dutch pastor and theologian Abraham Kuyper who called it a Calvinist Life-System. In 1898 Kuyper visited the United States and gave a series of presentations at Princeton University as part of their Stone Lectures for visiting scholars. Kuyper delivered six separate speeches in that series which he later published together as a single book in 1931 under the title, Lectures on Calvinism. It is in these lectures that Kuyper lays out and develops what he sees as John Calvin’s approach to seeing the entire world through the lens of the Bible. Kuyper summarized the Calvinist Life-System this way, saying that the Calvin’s view of the Bible provides “a peculiar insight…into the three fundamental relations of all human life: (1) our relation to God, (2) our relation to man, and (3) our relation to the world.”

The entire span of scripture unpacks this for us. However, since we do not have time in the next thirty minutes to read the entire Bible, I can think of no other passage which pulls together Kuyper’s summary of a biblical worldview than Psalm 8. Take note as we read this through. Psalm 8 addresses all three of Kuyper’s fundamental relations of human life.

Psalm 8:1-9 (NIV)

Psalm 8:1–9 NIV

1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? 5 You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8 the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Let’s put into practice a few of the principles I talked about last week which help us to understand what we are reading in scripture. The historical context of this passage tells us that it is written by king David as a psalm. We should read it then as a poem which gives artistic language to God’s message in scripture. It comes relatively close to the beginning of the Psalms. There are 150 poems in the book of Psalms and this comes as number 8 in that list.

Psalm 8 follows as David’s response to Psalms 3-7

It is interesting to note the way in which Psalm 8 sits in context with the other Psalms. Psalms 1-2 which open the book are not attributed to any specific author. They are poems which generally express blessing for those who seek the Lord. Psalm 3 begins the first section of poems attributed to David. It is noteworthy that Psalms 3-7 written by David are filled with struggle and lament—they are not psalms of praise and worship. Psalm 8 jumps in with a strikingly different tone than the preceding five Psalms from David. It is almost as though we could read through Psalms 3-7 and walk away with more questions than answers. David uncovers deep concerns in his own life through which he is confronted with fundamental questions of identity. What exactly is this God of Israel up to? How does David fit into God’s will and plan when so much of the world seems beyond David’s control? How is David supposed to understand his place in the world? David phrases these ponderings as poems of lament.

Against that backdrop we get to Psalm 8. Here, David begins to give a response to his own laments which have overshadowed the previous poems. Here, David begins to lay out a framework for understanding his identity in the world through the lens of God’s revelation.

bookends of the repeated phrase at the beginning and end

Notice as well the literary structure of Psalm 8. It has bookends—a repeated phrase at both the beginning and end. This is a pretty good clue that the passage has a mirror structure which funnels towards a theme found at the center. In this case counting verses doesn’t get us there because the number of phrases in each verse varies. We actually need to count the individual phrases from the beginning and end in order to find the center. It lands on verse 4 which is phrased as a question.

Psalm 8:4 (NIV)

Psalm 8:4 NIV

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

And there you see it. It is a question of identity. After all the lament in the previous five Psalms of David he arrives at a question of identity. Who am I? How am I supposed to understand my identity in relation to God, in relation to others, and in relation to the world? This one question in this one verse zeros in on the entire scope of Abraham Kuyper’s work in articulating a biblical worldview. And David’s poetic words in the opening and closing verses of Psalm 8 give us a wonderful framework for beginning to understand the answer to this question of identity.

God’s sovereignty over all creation

Walk through it with me. The psalm begins and ends with a statement of God’s sovereign majesty over all the creation. A biblical worldview that seeks to find our identity in the creation must start with acknowledging that all of creation belongs to God. And we declare along with the author of Genesis that God created a good world full of goodness for the purpose of shalom. It is in Genesis 3 that Adam and Eve try to step into God’s place and try to be like God, committing the first sin by eating the forbidden fruit. From that time on, sin has stained the goodness of God’s world. It is a sinful nature into which we are born. And yet, even in all the brokenness of sin that David calls to mind in Psalms 3-7, he affirms in the opening verses of Psalm 8 that God continues to be the lord over all that he has made.

humanity’s unique position in God’s creation

The next thing we see in this psalm is the unique position of humanity in God’s creation. David answers his own question which he posed in verse 4. What is our identity as part of God’s creation? David says that we are crowned by God with glory and honor. It is noteworthy that God is the one who places humanity in this position. We can see in the narrative of scripture that whenever people try to claim their own crowning, it turns out poorly. Just think all the way back to the tower of Babel story in Genesis 11. When we set about trying to make our own crowns we only seem to end up tripping and stepping on one another. However, when we live as God’s crowning achievement of creation we are clothed in the glory and honor which God bestows.

crowns as symbols of recognition given by God

Often we may think of crowns as only symbolic of royalty. In the time of David, crowns had more than one purpose. Just think back to the very first Greek olympic games. They did not confer glory and honor with medals back then. The prize was symbolized by the laurel of woven branches that was placed as a crown of the head of the champions. It was a symbol of recognition. It noted the olympic athletes who are placed at the top among the competitors. God has similarly placed humanity at the top of his creation in a place of special recognition.

human dignity

This not only identifies our unique place in relation to God, it also identifies our relation with one another as people created by God. Within a biblical worldview we do not measure the value of other people according to their own accomplishments or merits. We measure the value and worth of other people based upon the value given to them by God. As all people are created in the image of God, so all people share in this crowning recognition of God. A biblical worldview reminds us that we may never undervalue or dehumanize people; we may never treat other people as less than we are. To do so would be to devalue God himself as the creator who has placed this crown of recognition upon the humanity he has made.

I am reminded of this identity every week in our Life Skills program on Tuesday nights. Our partner organization, Love Your Neighbor, places a high emphasis on the value of dignity. We want to ensure that everything we do in Life Skills promotes the dignity of other people. And so we strive in Life Skills to never treat other people as a project to be fixed; nobody wants to be treated as a project. We aim to treat each other as people, that we are all humans created in the image of God.

David moves on in Psalm 8 to identify the way in which God has given humans a special responsibility in his creation.

Psalm 8:6 (NIV)

Psalm 8:6 NIV

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:

humanity’s responsibility in God’s creation

A biblical worldview informs us that we have a special role in this creation. We are appointed by God as caretakers of his creation. We are stewards granted the privileged position of being in charge of what God has made. This opens doors into all kinds of activities that are connected to our christian faith. Our identity as a Christian suddenly becomes more than a set of spiritual doctrines and beliefs. Our identity as Christians suddenly takes root in the everyday normal mundane activities of this world. It is the reason we establish and promote things like Christian schools and universities. It is because we believe our identity as people of faith is intertwined with a responsibility given to us by God to be faithful stewards of his world. Part of that stewardship is learning and discovering all that God has packed into his creation.

The things that students go to school and learn about are meant to be part of our identity as caretakers of this world. The job that you go to and work every day is meant to be part of your identity as a steward of God’s creation. The activities of your day to interact with others and care for others is part of your identity as a caretaker in this world.

relationship between creator and creation

All of this points us to identify and remember the relationship that God has between himself and the creation he has made—including us as part of that creation. The Bible shows us over and over again that God is in the business of redeeming what is broken in his world. The biblical worldview we hold always points towards that redemption. This is the reason why whenever and wherever we see glimpses of shalom taking place in our world, we move towards that and embrace that. God’s redemptive work in this world shows up in those moments. The restoration of shalom marks the trajectory of our vision and mission as God’s people in this world. You and I have been redeemed by God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We are now counted as righteous before God and we are now invited to join up with God’s restorative activity in this world.

Psalm 8:4 NIV84

4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

reading the Bible reminds me of my identity… in relation to God (sovereign creator) in relation to others (image bearers) in relation to the world (shalom restoration)

God’s word reminds us of all this. Regularly spending time reading the Bible realigns us into this identity. We read the Bible so that God’s word can serve as a compass to guide our direction. The way we see this direction in scripture is to be reminded of our true identity. To be reminded of our relationship to God as the sovereign creator. To be reminded of our relationship with one another as image bearers of God. And to be reminded of our place within God’s redemptive action restoring the shalom of his creation.