Post by arete on Jul 22, 2014 22:01:09 GMT
Introduction:
“For God, praise is the sweet echo of his own excellence in the hearts of his people.” “God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the highest virtue and the most loving act” (John Piper). After so many versions of laments, Psalm 8 is a break from sorrow to simple and profound adoration of the Most High God. This psalm of David celebrates the person of God and his glory seen in his creation, especially his creation of man. This celebration is bookmarked by a heartfelt declaration of the supreme majesty of God. Such exaltation of God by both his creature and himself is the highest virtue and the most loving act because the greatest need any person has is the knowledge of and relationship with their Maker.
Context:
Psalm 8 is a hymn psalm. Hymns: Songs of praise and thanksgiving to God for who he is and what he has done. This is a psalm of David and was intended for corporate worship. The Gittith is an unknown notation, but is likely an appropriate piece of music or instrument for praise and adoration. This psalm was quoted in the last section we studied in Hebrews.
Body – Psalm 8:1-9 – ESV
To the Choirmaster: According to the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Glory of God vv. 1-2
God’s majesty is the starting point for this Psalm (v. 1a). God is the safest starting point for every thought and every belief and every action. Further, David pairs the personal name for God (in our versions all capital L-O-R-D) and a possessive statement of God’s lordship. God is ours because we belong to him and this is a personal relationship. He is also our sovereign, our ruler, our absolute king. The word “majestic” has wrapped up in it the idea that God’s greatness is greater than the deepest depth and wider than the greatest expanse. For us in the modern age – as vast as the universe has been proven to be – God’s majesty makes it wither in comparison.
God has established his absolute glory (v. 1b). Every scrap of beauty seen in the universe, any bright and glorious item in heaven is darkness before the glory of God. His glory and beauty and worth are infinitely greater than our ability to catalog or measure it.
From birth, every person is one more example of God’s glory (v. 2a). This in part looks ahead to the rest of the psalm. Every child is a gift from God – a new image bearer. The miracle of a new child and a new life shouts God’s glory at every turn.
The existence of every child is a demonstration of God’s strength and glory (v. 2b). Some versions use “praise” in place of “strength”. The ideas are linked. Even the babbling or chatter of infants and toddlers are to God’s glory. The simple and innocent existence of our children is praise to God. His upholding of the continuity of humans on earth is seen in our children.
Every word from any enemy to God is drowned out by the voices of children (v. 2c). No matter how strong or evil the words and actions of the enemies of God or God’s people, their opposition is laid low and made still by the glory of God shown in the voices of little ones.
Illustration:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20 ESV)
Application:
The glory of God is blatantly and painfully obvious in all of creation. Look around you. We are surrounded by reminders that God is real. That God is great. That God is glorious. No one has any excuse to not see God’s glory. There is no excuse to not thank him, praise him and adore him. There is no excuse for taking his gifts and his glory for granted.
Grandeur of Creation vv. 3-4
A glimpse of God’s work in the heavens testifies to his glory in its grandeur (v. 3a). As immense as the universe is, it is finger work for God in his immensity. Even in its fallen state, the heavens and the earth are filled with beauty. The Creator God is greater than the vastness of the universe. He is infinitely more beautiful; he is supremely more valuable.
A longer look at the moon and the stars bear witness of God (v. 3b). He placed the heavenly bodies in their place. He decreed their movement for the purpose of telling times and seasons. He created them in beauty because he loves beautiful things. The moon and stars have an appointed place and a specific purpose; so does man.
The sheer immenseness of the heavens makes us feel so very small (v. 4a). The universe is so vast. God is greater still. Like the psalmist, I hope this makes us aware of our personal insignificance –and to wonder then at why God is mindful of us. (We are significant, but not because of our self-worth. We are significant because of God’s love and care for us.)
What is man that God is mindful of him (v. 4a)? The immediate focus is on the nature of man. The psalmist asks what there is about man that the great God should stoop to help him. The answer is not found in defining man. The answer is in defining God – he cares not because we deserve it. He cares because he is caring and loving. What is “mindful”? – Mindful means that God is not neglecting his creature. He does not forget we are here. His remembrance of us is keyed toward helping us.
Who is the son of man that God cares for him (v. 4b)? Both “man” and “son of man” are two separate terms for God that zero in on the fleeting nature of earthly life. Apart from God and his gift of eternal life, we are the poof of a dandelion. What is “care”? – Care means the intent to personally visit or intervene with either necessary discipline or necessary nurture to provide our greatest good.
Illustration:
There is a small prayer known as the Breton Fisherman's Prayer. The Breton fishermen are from Brittany, a region in western France. The prayer is short and succinct in its entirety. The Breton Fisherman's Prayer was engraved on a brass plaque and presented to President John F. Kennedy by US Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover. The admiral would s present the same type of plaque to all new commanders of Polaris submarines. The prayer is “Oh God thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.”
Application:
God’s glory should be so great in our minds that we are aware of our own smallness. On average, we think too much of ourselves. We think we are self-sufficient. We think we can live the Christian life in our own power and for our own agenda. Not all of the time, but we all fall regularly into sinful pride of self. Praise, adoration and worship of God helps us keep our minds on our smallness and neediness. We cannot live the way God demands we live. We cannot save our souls. We cannot grow our own faith. We cannot earn or buy our way into heaven. God himself does all of this for us. While the ocean of life is so big and our few years and meager efforts are so small – our God is bigger and greater still. We cannot lean to heavily upon him; we rarely lean heavily enough.
God’s Image vv. 5-9
The Psalmist continues by looking at the substance of man – God’s image bearer. The language in this psalm indirectly references Creation in the idea of heavens and earth and the moon and stars. The Hebrew mind would be directed back to Genesis and know that our worth is found in the fact that we bear the image of the Creator.
The psalmist speaks directly to man’s substance and purpose (v. 5-6).
1. Substance of man – man is a little lower than angels. They are made to have continual access to the throne and never die. Man can attain God’s presence and eternal life by God’s grace. The glory and honor are the place man has in creation because he bears the image of God. So man is temporarily lower than the angels, but through salvation is eternally blessed.
2. Purpose of man – all of creation was put in the stewardship of Adam and his descendants. Since the Fall, man has not properly or righteously and never perfectly fulfilled his purpose.
The Psalm uses animals to convey the full scope of man’s dominion (vv. 7-8). Wild beasts and tamed farm animals are in this list. Birds and fish take man’s dominion from just the land to the air and the seas. These animals come from all spheres and represent a totality. God has placed the earth in the stewardship of man. The world is for our enjoyment and also for our care. God owns it; we are his agents carrying his authority to every possible point of his earth.
This Psalm is quoted in Hebrews with messianic implications.
1. Jesus is the Son of Man – he was made little lower than the angels. He humiliated or lowered himself and became fully human while remaining fully divine. He perfectly fulfilled the nature and purpose of man. He is the only one who has ever done so. He is the only one who can save us so that one day we will be restored and perfectly display the image of God forever
2. Jesus was crowned with glory & honor because of his suffering. He was obedient even to death on the cross. Through the first Adam, one man’s disobedience brought death to all. In Jesus, the Last Adam, one man’s obedience unto death brought eternal life. His obedience shines in glory & honor.
God’s majesty is the conclusion of this Psalm (v. 9). God is the safest starting point for every thought and every belief and every action. He is also the perfect conclusion to the same. For who he is as well as for what he has done for us, he deserves all praise and glory and honor. We will never do this perfectly on earth. Fortunately, we will worship him perfectly in heaven and worship him forever.
Illustration:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Application:
God has ordained that we participate in his glory in our substance and our purpose. We do not add to his glory. As image bearers, we display his glory. When we are saved by Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, he is glorified in us as he perfects our faith. Those who remain in their rebellion to God are a different story. He is glorified in them by pouring out his wrath in holiness and justice.
So What?
We glorify God when we exalt Him in our souls above all creatures in the world, when we give Him the highest places in our love and in our joy, when all our affections are set upon Him as our greatest good. This is seen also by opposition, when we will not offend God for any creature; when we can ask our affections, "Whom have I in heaven but thee?" (Psalm 73:25) (Richard Sibbes)
My prayer for us is that God keeps us ever aware of our smallness, our brokenness, our frailty, and our sin. Likewise, I pray that he indelibly marks on our hearts his greatness, his peace, his sovereign might, and the great grace and mercy that are ours in him. Finally, I pray that such wonderful knowledge well up to praise and adoration of the Most High God and that he is pleased by our meager efforts to ascribe to him the majesty of his name.
Benediction
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:11-13 ESV)
“For God, praise is the sweet echo of his own excellence in the hearts of his people.” “God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the highest virtue and the most loving act” (John Piper). After so many versions of laments, Psalm 8 is a break from sorrow to simple and profound adoration of the Most High God. This psalm of David celebrates the person of God and his glory seen in his creation, especially his creation of man. This celebration is bookmarked by a heartfelt declaration of the supreme majesty of God. Such exaltation of God by both his creature and himself is the highest virtue and the most loving act because the greatest need any person has is the knowledge of and relationship with their Maker.
Context:
Psalm 8 is a hymn psalm. Hymns: Songs of praise and thanksgiving to God for who he is and what he has done. This is a psalm of David and was intended for corporate worship. The Gittith is an unknown notation, but is likely an appropriate piece of music or instrument for praise and adoration. This psalm was quoted in the last section we studied in Hebrews.
Body – Psalm 8:1-9 – ESV
To the Choirmaster: According to the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Glory of God vv. 1-2
God’s majesty is the starting point for this Psalm (v. 1a). God is the safest starting point for every thought and every belief and every action. Further, David pairs the personal name for God (in our versions all capital L-O-R-D) and a possessive statement of God’s lordship. God is ours because we belong to him and this is a personal relationship. He is also our sovereign, our ruler, our absolute king. The word “majestic” has wrapped up in it the idea that God’s greatness is greater than the deepest depth and wider than the greatest expanse. For us in the modern age – as vast as the universe has been proven to be – God’s majesty makes it wither in comparison.
God has established his absolute glory (v. 1b). Every scrap of beauty seen in the universe, any bright and glorious item in heaven is darkness before the glory of God. His glory and beauty and worth are infinitely greater than our ability to catalog or measure it.
From birth, every person is one more example of God’s glory (v. 2a). This in part looks ahead to the rest of the psalm. Every child is a gift from God – a new image bearer. The miracle of a new child and a new life shouts God’s glory at every turn.
The existence of every child is a demonstration of God’s strength and glory (v. 2b). Some versions use “praise” in place of “strength”. The ideas are linked. Even the babbling or chatter of infants and toddlers are to God’s glory. The simple and innocent existence of our children is praise to God. His upholding of the continuity of humans on earth is seen in our children.
Every word from any enemy to God is drowned out by the voices of children (v. 2c). No matter how strong or evil the words and actions of the enemies of God or God’s people, their opposition is laid low and made still by the glory of God shown in the voices of little ones.
Illustration:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20 ESV)
Application:
The glory of God is blatantly and painfully obvious in all of creation. Look around you. We are surrounded by reminders that God is real. That God is great. That God is glorious. No one has any excuse to not see God’s glory. There is no excuse to not thank him, praise him and adore him. There is no excuse for taking his gifts and his glory for granted.
Grandeur of Creation vv. 3-4
A glimpse of God’s work in the heavens testifies to his glory in its grandeur (v. 3a). As immense as the universe is, it is finger work for God in his immensity. Even in its fallen state, the heavens and the earth are filled with beauty. The Creator God is greater than the vastness of the universe. He is infinitely more beautiful; he is supremely more valuable.
A longer look at the moon and the stars bear witness of God (v. 3b). He placed the heavenly bodies in their place. He decreed their movement for the purpose of telling times and seasons. He created them in beauty because he loves beautiful things. The moon and stars have an appointed place and a specific purpose; so does man.
The sheer immenseness of the heavens makes us feel so very small (v. 4a). The universe is so vast. God is greater still. Like the psalmist, I hope this makes us aware of our personal insignificance –and to wonder then at why God is mindful of us. (We are significant, but not because of our self-worth. We are significant because of God’s love and care for us.)
What is man that God is mindful of him (v. 4a)? The immediate focus is on the nature of man. The psalmist asks what there is about man that the great God should stoop to help him. The answer is not found in defining man. The answer is in defining God – he cares not because we deserve it. He cares because he is caring and loving. What is “mindful”? – Mindful means that God is not neglecting his creature. He does not forget we are here. His remembrance of us is keyed toward helping us.
Who is the son of man that God cares for him (v. 4b)? Both “man” and “son of man” are two separate terms for God that zero in on the fleeting nature of earthly life. Apart from God and his gift of eternal life, we are the poof of a dandelion. What is “care”? – Care means the intent to personally visit or intervene with either necessary discipline or necessary nurture to provide our greatest good.
Illustration:
There is a small prayer known as the Breton Fisherman's Prayer. The Breton fishermen are from Brittany, a region in western France. The prayer is short and succinct in its entirety. The Breton Fisherman's Prayer was engraved on a brass plaque and presented to President John F. Kennedy by US Navy Admiral Hyman Rickover. The admiral would s present the same type of plaque to all new commanders of Polaris submarines. The prayer is “Oh God thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.”
Application:
God’s glory should be so great in our minds that we are aware of our own smallness. On average, we think too much of ourselves. We think we are self-sufficient. We think we can live the Christian life in our own power and for our own agenda. Not all of the time, but we all fall regularly into sinful pride of self. Praise, adoration and worship of God helps us keep our minds on our smallness and neediness. We cannot live the way God demands we live. We cannot save our souls. We cannot grow our own faith. We cannot earn or buy our way into heaven. God himself does all of this for us. While the ocean of life is so big and our few years and meager efforts are so small – our God is bigger and greater still. We cannot lean to heavily upon him; we rarely lean heavily enough.
God’s Image vv. 5-9
The Psalmist continues by looking at the substance of man – God’s image bearer. The language in this psalm indirectly references Creation in the idea of heavens and earth and the moon and stars. The Hebrew mind would be directed back to Genesis and know that our worth is found in the fact that we bear the image of the Creator.
The psalmist speaks directly to man’s substance and purpose (v. 5-6).
1. Substance of man – man is a little lower than angels. They are made to have continual access to the throne and never die. Man can attain God’s presence and eternal life by God’s grace. The glory and honor are the place man has in creation because he bears the image of God. So man is temporarily lower than the angels, but through salvation is eternally blessed.
2. Purpose of man – all of creation was put in the stewardship of Adam and his descendants. Since the Fall, man has not properly or righteously and never perfectly fulfilled his purpose.
The Psalm uses animals to convey the full scope of man’s dominion (vv. 7-8). Wild beasts and tamed farm animals are in this list. Birds and fish take man’s dominion from just the land to the air and the seas. These animals come from all spheres and represent a totality. God has placed the earth in the stewardship of man. The world is for our enjoyment and also for our care. God owns it; we are his agents carrying his authority to every possible point of his earth.
This Psalm is quoted in Hebrews with messianic implications.
1. Jesus is the Son of Man – he was made little lower than the angels. He humiliated or lowered himself and became fully human while remaining fully divine. He perfectly fulfilled the nature and purpose of man. He is the only one who has ever done so. He is the only one who can save us so that one day we will be restored and perfectly display the image of God forever
2. Jesus was crowned with glory & honor because of his suffering. He was obedient even to death on the cross. Through the first Adam, one man’s disobedience brought death to all. In Jesus, the Last Adam, one man’s obedience unto death brought eternal life. His obedience shines in glory & honor.
God’s majesty is the conclusion of this Psalm (v. 9). God is the safest starting point for every thought and every belief and every action. He is also the perfect conclusion to the same. For who he is as well as for what he has done for us, he deserves all praise and glory and honor. We will never do this perfectly on earth. Fortunately, we will worship him perfectly in heaven and worship him forever.
Illustration:
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
Application:
God has ordained that we participate in his glory in our substance and our purpose. We do not add to his glory. As image bearers, we display his glory. When we are saved by Christ and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, he is glorified in us as he perfects our faith. Those who remain in their rebellion to God are a different story. He is glorified in them by pouring out his wrath in holiness and justice.
So What?
We glorify God when we exalt Him in our souls above all creatures in the world, when we give Him the highest places in our love and in our joy, when all our affections are set upon Him as our greatest good. This is seen also by opposition, when we will not offend God for any creature; when we can ask our affections, "Whom have I in heaven but thee?" (Psalm 73:25) (Richard Sibbes)
My prayer for us is that God keeps us ever aware of our smallness, our brokenness, our frailty, and our sin. Likewise, I pray that he indelibly marks on our hearts his greatness, his peace, his sovereign might, and the great grace and mercy that are ours in him. Finally, I pray that such wonderful knowledge well up to praise and adoration of the Most High God and that he is pleased by our meager efforts to ascribe to him the majesty of his name.
Benediction
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. (1 Chronicles 29:11-13 ESV)