Mensa Otabil - God Thinks About Us (10/30/2025)
We are looking again at Psalm 8:3 and 4: «When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?» David asks two questions: Why does God think of us, and why does God reach out to us? These questions are ones that many people have considered.
There are those who look at the vast expanse of the universe and creation and the diversity of creation and conclude that human beings are just a fleeting accident of evolution. They feel that we have no significant place on this Earth; they feel we are nothing. Sometimes, when you look at all the vastness of creation, you just ask the question, «Who is man?» You may conclude, like the nihilist, that man is nothing, or like the agnostic or the atheist, who believes that it’s nothing — it’s just things that have happened, and there’s no significance.
But as Christians, we see our place in creation as an intentional act of God. God willed it, and God placed us here. We are here because God put us here; we’re not here by accident. There is a divine plan in the way things work in our world. Later in the psalm, we’ll look at it when David tells us why God put us here in the first place. But here, he’s talking about two things that God does that baffles him, and he says, «What is man that you are mindful of him?» God is mindful of us. That’s a huge idea: that God thinks about us. His mind is full of us; we occupy his attention.
So, the theme or the insight from this psalm is that, in spite of the huge gap between God and His creation, and sometimes our own smallness, we matter to God. We are important to God, and He takes interest in us. Although we may appear like tiny dust when you look at the whole of creation, we are still important to God. If you look at our size, you may think, «Oh, we are nobodies,» but God is mindful of us. Never think of yourself as a nobody or a nothing. When you look at everything happening around you, God thinks about you; He’s interested in your life, and you are important to Him. God is mindful of us.
The second thing David says is that God visits us. What does that mean? It means that God reaches out to us. The Hebrew word that is translated as «God visits us» comes from a root word that means to hunt out, to seek out, to long for, and to care for. So, when it says God is visiting us, it means that He’s pursuing us. He runs after us; He seeks for us. Not only does He think of us, but He reaches out to us. His eyes are on us; His ears are open to us. He hears our heartbeat, He hears our thoughts, and He hears the desires of our heart.
So, in a world of rich, powerful rulers and people who get all the attention, if you are poor and alone, you may think, «Oh, nobody cares for me; nobody knows me; nobody thinks about me.» Just know this: the Creator of the universe thinks you are a big deal, and He thinks about you, and He’s reaching out to you. Ultimately, God reaches out to us through Jesus Christ, when God Himself became flesh-Emmanuel, God with us. God reached out to us and pursued us even to death on the cross. That shows you the value we have in God’s sight.
That’s what David was contemplating about when he looked at what God had used him to accomplish: fighting for his nation, bringing down a giant, and he’s wondering, «Why do I deserve all this from God? Why does God think about me? Why does God choose to use me? Why does God speak to me? Why did God visit me in the desert, in the wilderness, among my sheep?» God does all of these things because we are important to Him. He cares for us and He will pursue us.
I just want you to know that God thinks about you; He cares for you. Nobody may care for you, but you can be guaranteed He cares for you, and He’s reaching out to you today. Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, I am here because you placed me here. Thank you for making me a part of your plans. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.