You Are Seen-Known-Cherished

– Ponderings:

I was listening to a podcast on “useless facts” last night as I went to bed, and here’s one that caught me by surprise. Did you know there are 118 ridges on the side of a dime, 119 on the side of a quarter, 150 on the side of a half dollar, and 198 on a dollar coin? When I heard that, I “pondered” who took the time to count these ridges and if anyone, on hearing this information, has counted to ensure its accuracy. This is certainly useless information!

In Psalm 8, David, the psalm’s author, is “pondering” something more meaningful than ridges on a coin.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
(Psalm 8:1,3-4).

Have you ever stood under a starlit sky or looked up at the grandeur of a mountain and felt small?

David did. In Psalm 8, he lifts his eyes to the heavens and is overwhelmed. The vastness of the universe, the grandeur of God’s creation—it humbles him. And then comes the question that still echoes in the human heart: “What are we that you are mindful of us and care for us?”

God, whose glory stretches beyond the galaxies, whose creativity hangs the stars in their courses, whose majesty fills the earth—this God sees us. Knows us. Cares for us.

This is more than poetry. It is a revelation of divine grace. In the vast scope of eternity, God bends down in love. To listen. To notice our needs. To be mindful of us. And not just in a passing glance, but with love.

David’s awe in this psalm invites us to reclaim wonder. This psalm whispers a deep truth: You are seen. You are known. You are cherished—not because you are powerful, but because God is.

If the God who set the stars in place thinks about and cares for you, how might that change the way you see yourself?

Prayer: Majestic God, your glory fills the skies, and yet you draw near to me. Help me to live in the awe of your presence and to rest in the truth that you know and love me. Amen.