Cosmic Take Down
To “take down” an adversary is to humiliate them. In this article, we will bring together a cosmic take down, some science and cosmology, singing stars, a psalm of David, and a modern musical composition.
When the Morning Stars Sang Together
“Morning stars” are the first light of the universe. Let me tell you a little about the first light of the universe.
The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) is the (extremely red-shifted) light from quark confinement - or for the layman, when matter condensed out of the early universe releasing the remaining energy as light - or more poetically, when God separated the light from the darkness.
The CMB is not uniform, it has waves and ripples - it is vibrating with cosmic sound. In 2003, John Cramer at University of Washington had the idea to scale these vibrations to the range of human hearing, creating the Sound of the Big Bang for humans. In 2013, he used a more precise survey from newer satellites to create a “higher fidelity” rendition.
These waves and ripples at the condensation of matter determined the distribution of stars, galaxies, and superclusters. This Sound of the Big Bang was the “song” that arranged the stars and heavenly bodies!
Psalm 8
The psalmist David contemplated this arrangement visible to him, and wrote a psalm about it - which provides insight into the role of humans in this new universe. The descending glissando of the Big Bang evoked a descending chromatic melody in my mind, so I put Psalm 8 to music with such a melody:
In verse 2, the psalmist states: “Out of the mouth of babes and infants” - who are the babes and infants? “Because of Your foes, that You might still the Enemy and the Avenger” - who are these foes of God? Who is this Enemy, and why does he seek vengeance?
Consider God’s heavens (as in moon and stars), which He arranged in order. That was but the work of His fingers. So what is Mankind in all this? Why all this attention from the Creator?
“You have made him a little lower than the angels.” So Mankind are babes and infants compared to the mighty and ancient angels. Come to think of it, Lucifer and his angelic followers were foes of the Almighty, and were cast out of heaven. And Lucifer has been after revenge ever since. That is why he is called the Enemy.
“You crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler of the works of Your hands. You placed all things under his feet.” These spiritual babes are put in charge of a world. (the one that Lucifer himself had been in charge of according to some interpretations). This is the ultimate humiliation (“take down”) for one who sought to overthrow his own Creator.
