When modern man looks at the heavens and contemplates the stars, moon, sun and galaxies, he knows what they are and can look in a astronomy book to learn more about them. For biblical man, the heavens were a mystery that could only be   explained as the work of God.

When I behold Thy heavens,
the work of Thy fingers,
The moon and the stars,
Which thou hast established;

Then biblical man would ask the question: "What is man that Thou art mindful of him?"

The psalms answer this question and reveal biblical man's ideas about the way the universe is ordered.  Thus, the psalms give us insight into the minds of our ancestors.

The heavens above is  the work of God's fingers. Fingers are used to manipulate or mold. To modern man the metaphor of fingers are the natural forces set in motion and guided by God. The picture shows the fingers made up of stars and glowing gas that are being used to form the universe.

Now the Psalm goes on to consider man's place in the system:

Yet thou has made him but little
lower than the Angels,
And hast crowed him with glory and honor.
Thou hast made him to have dominion
over the works of Thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet:
Sheep and oxen, all of them,
Yea,  and the beast of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea;

This gives us the order in the universe. God is at the top of the universe. Next there are the Angels, the messengers and servants of God. Man follows next in the earthly domain divided by the clouds, the barrier between heaven and earth. Man is given dominion over all things on earth, and is both part of nature and over nature. Man is represented by both man, woman and
child, painted larger than the animals over which he has dominion. Man is not to exploit nature but act as a steward or caretaker. The tiger illustrates the wild part of nature that man does not fully control.

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