Dear Church Family,

Alongside our anxiety and grief, many of us have been amazed, and humbled, that something as small as the coronavirus can cause so much harm. This article expresses that very well:

“Viruses are among the smallest life forms on our planet. Somewhere between 20–400 nanometres, 100 times smaller than bacteria, and too small to see even with a normal microscope. You’ll need an electron microscope to spot a coronavirus or Covid-19, as we must now call it, like somebody out of Star Wars. But what an impact that infinitesimally small organism has made!

In the space of a few weeks – and with our help of course – it has circled the globe, shut down whole cities and humbled whole countries. Economies are stalling, stocks falling, businesses struggling, travel disrupted, sports events cancelled, many lives lost, and many more put on hold, holidays ending in virtual imprisonment… the list goes on. It really is staggering that something so tiny can have such devastatingly vast consequences.” 

https://www.e-n.org.uk/2020/05/uk-news/as-fear-goes-viral/33c03/

Psalm 8 helps us to put things into perspective. In Ps. 8 David is aware of the majesty of God: He begins and ends the Psalm with the words ‘O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth (v1 & v9).

We can imagine David as a young man, looking after the flock. After eating something at the end of the day, he leans against a rock and looks up into the cloudless Palestinian sky above. Have you ever done that? I’m sure you have, and on a clear night, even in London, the stars are magnificent. All the more out in the countryside. David could have seen 2-3,000 stars that night. He must have been awestruck. From Genesis 1:16 he knew that it was God who had made those stars, and that inspired him to think how great the Lord must be who made that sky. 

As he looked up at the stars and thought about the greatness of the Lord, his heart was filled with the desire to praise the God who made that sky, even in the face of his enemies. He’d have heard from his brothers about the war going on with the Philistines at the time. But he knew that God’s weak people, the ‘children and infants,’ the ‘little ones’ of v2, would silence their much stronger enemies, there in v2, as they turned their gaze away from their enemies, towards the Lord in praise. Because their God was the majestic maker of that night sky, David knew that the Lord was greater than their enemies. Perhaps David would soon be up against Goliath? He must have felt like a helpless infant up against ‘that hairy chested brute as he flexed his muscles and showed off his tattoos’ (Dale Ralph Davis). But knowing the one who made the stars put even this enemy into perspective.

And for us fixing our eyes on the Lord, rather than on the dangers and problems that surround us in this pandemic, gives us the perspective we need. Yes, we lament the devastation of life that this virus causes. Our household, along with many others around the world is grieving. Yet through our sadness and fears we know the Lord, our Lord, is the majestic maker of the stars above. As we continue to praise Him by trusting Him, even this invisible enemy is muted.

So in the week ahead, step back and take a look up into the night sky, and remember the Lord who made it. And for every fearful glance at what is happening, look twice to the majestic Lord who made the stars above, and trust Him.

Your brother in Christ,

Ian