With the charm of Oriental imagery, in the eighth Psalm the poet of Israel lifts thought in praise to God, the creator of the universe and man. Impressed by the glory and sublimity of the heavens, with mounting thought he goes on to picture man. After emphasizing the majesty of the heavens, "the work of thy fingers," he interrogates, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him?" Transcending the beauty and order of the stellar universe is man, made in God's likeness. Marvelous beyond compare is spiritual man, crowned with glory and honor. David closes his song of adoration with the paean of praise, "O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!"
To read this Psalm thoughtfully and with reverence is to be lifted into a glimpse of God's creation, and to envisage God's man. In the light of Christian Science the spiritual universe and man are revealed as reflecting the infinite glory. So far above the mortal, material sense of man, so far removed from mere physicality is this inspired view, that the material appears only as illusion. Matter, as Christian Science declares, is a false concept, which would give the lie to that which is holy and pure.
Our vision of reality, the truth of our being, seems obscured by the human concept. In reality there is but one creation—one universe and man. The human concept presents an opposing picture, which men accept as a material creation and call mortal. This false believing constitutes mortality, with all its vagaries and discords. Christian Science exposes these misrepresentations as unreal. Each mortal must gain the true concept of God, man, and the universe. This teaching calls for clear thinking, active reasoning, vigorous demonstration of the real or spiritual, and consequent proof of the unreality of material sense.
