Praise Him in His mighty firmament. Psalm 150:1

Less than a week ago, the solar eclipse was of major interest. Huge crowds were expected to overwhelm small towns where shrewd speculators hoped to turn eclipse mania into hefty profits. As it turns out, the crowds were large but not the predicted multitudes and some folks reported they’d lost money in the process. Five days later the eclipse is already old news, an old waning moon no longer in the spotlight. Today it is Hurricane Harvey battering Texas. Next week something else will grab our attention for 24/7.

For a day or so we compared two and a half minute eclipse experiences and posted photos. As it turns out the difference between totality and even 99% partiality was dramatic. The smallest sliver of the sun curved like a crescent behind the moon created a shadowy, grey light on my driveway but not total blackness which my daughter experienced in Rexburg. I watched through the special glasses. She could look directly at the full eclipse. She saw the moon turn blue with sun flares radiating outward into a corona of light. I was in dusk; she was in midnight. She said she cried because the sight was beautiful beyond words.

The sight was no less glorious for me. I remember that Scripture is replete with poetry about the sun, the moon and the stars. That Biblical poetry is meant to sustain and inspire us, especially during phenomena such as eclipses. I think of King David looking up at the heavens filled with countless stars, being so deeply moved by the sight of God’s grandeur to compose extravagant praise to God.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Psalm 8:1
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; Psalm 8:3

The king is full of awe, proclaiming the Lord’s creation in the celestial bodies. But what I find most marvelous is that the psalm then looks inward, away from the heavens, realizing that this God of wonder and power is actually mindful of man. God visits him. He is made a little lower than the angels. He is crowned with glory and honor. The psalm reflects God’s divine order before the fall. In the Garden man was created for glory; he was entrusted with all creation.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet…Psalm 8:6

For a very brief time last week a host of faces looked intently up at the heavens. Astronomers and scientists were intrigued. For eclipse groupies it was “nature” doing an unusual thing. I’m guessing that quite a few people thought it no big deal and were disappointed. Some were moved to tears by the brevity and the beauty. For those of us who love God and His eternal truths, the moon passing totally or partially in front of the sun is a poem as ancient as the heavens. Just as David was inspired by the night sky to celebrate God’s majesty and treasure His nearness, shall we not also be moved to awe? To praise? The Lord of the universe is paradoxically close. He is mindful of us. God’s Mind is fully attentive to us. Is this not incredibly, amazingly , unbelievably cause to proclaim David’s own joyous words?

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Psalm 8:9