Brothers and sisters, please turn with me in your Bibles to the eighth Psalm.
We’ll be considering Psalm 8 this evening.
So, please hear with me a reading of God’s word in Psalm 8.
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!
Psalm 8:1-9 ESV
Thus far is the reading of God’s word.
Psalm 8 Meaning Structure
So, brothers and sisters, let’s begin by noticing the structure of this psalm.
From Heaven to Earth
This psalm begins and ends declaring God’s majestic character. And in between those two declarations, we have two movements from heaven to earth.
The first of these movements is in the last part of verse 1 and all of verse 2. We start in heaven when the psalmist says – “You have set your glory above the heavens.” And then we move in our minds to earth, where he says – “Out of the mouth of babies and infants…” So, our gaze starts in heaven (verse 1) and works its way down to earth (verse 2).
The second movement from heaven to earth is found in verses 3 through 8. It begins with heaven again – “When I look at your heavens…” And then the response to that “look” of the psalmist is focused once more on earth where he says – “what is man that you are mindful of him…” – man and everything else described in those verses of course being on earth.
And even the book end declarations of God’s majesty being seen in all the earth (vv 1, 9) – they too follow this pattern of moving from heaven to earth. We have the Lord in his heavenly majestic splendor. And that splendor is displayed not only in heaven – but also “in all the earth.”
So, we see in this psalm this threefold movement in the words and mind of the psalmist from heaven to earth…
And this reminds us of the “Son of Man” spoken of later in this psalm who descended from heaven to earth so that his name might be marveled at through all the earth as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Psalm 8 Meaning Verses 1a and 9
Well, let’s then consider in more depth the declarations of God’s majestic name that appear at the beginning and ending of this psalm…
O LORD, our Lord
As we read this psalm with understanding, we’re praising in song the covenant-making and covenant-keeping God – the LORD.
We are personally and directly related to him – he is our Lord, our Master.
And the way that we’re related to our Lord is through the gracious New Covenant. In that covenant we’ve been united to Christ in a spiritual and living and eternal union. In this union, our sins have been forgiven – having been transferred to and paid-for by Christ with his blood. And his perfect righteousness has been imputed to us – so that it’s as if we had never sinned nor been a sinner.
Now, David – the human author of this psalm – knew of this blessedness (Rom 4 / Psa 32) and so do we – who have entered into this New Covenant of grace.
This Lord truly then is our Lord.
how majestic is your name in all the earth
Now, through this psalm we extol the name of the Lord – his character and actions.
We confess that God’s character and action are majestic and marvelous.
We declare that this is the case – not in a geographically-isolated sense – but rather in all the earth…
So, how exactly is our Lord’s name majestic in all the earth?
Psalm 8 Meaning Outline
How is Our Lord’s Name Majestic in All the Earth?
That’s what the rest of this psalm guides us to consider and confess for ourselves.
To summarize it – the Lord’s name is majestic in these two ways (and these will be our two points).
1) God uses the weakest of human creatures to confound his enemies (that’s the first two verses of this psalm) and …
2) God especially favors and cares for man despite our relative insignificance (verses 3-8).
Or more succinctly, Point #1 is Confounding and Point #2 is Caring.
Psalm 8 Meaning Confounding Enemies (verses 1b-2)
So, let’s focus first on our Lord’s universally majestic name… in his using the weakest of human creatures in order to confound his enemies – in verses 1 and 2…
You have set your glory above the heavens
We’re told that our Lord has “set [his] glory above the heavens.”
set your glory
So, whatever we can see as we look up into the night sky – and whatever exists beyond that sky and into the heavens – beyond and above all of that is where God’s glory is set.
And beyond perhaps what David may have fully understood, we know now that God the Father has set his Son above the heavens when he raised him from the dead.
Jesus, the glory of the Father
Psalm 24 calls Jesus the “King of glory.” Isaiah 40 and 60 speak of him as “the glory of the Lord.”
James calls the Son of God “the Lord of glory.” Hebrews speaks of Jesus as “the radiance of the glory of God.”
John the evangelist tells us that the Old Testament prophet Isaiah saw Christ’s glory and spoke of him when he recorded the events of Isaiah 6. That’s where Isaiah sees YAHWEH sitting on a throne in the temple with seraphim praising him constantly. Those angelic beings declare that “the whole earth is full of [Christ’s] glory.”
above the heavens
And this glory – that is our Lord Jesus Christ – was set above the heavens when he – after his crucifixion and resurrection – was raised from the dead and at last ascended above the heavens.
Paul says in Ephesians 4 that Christ who descended has also ascended “far above all the heavens.”
Our Lord passed through the heavens and is now exalted above those heavens according to Hebrews (4 & 7).
And because that’s where Christ – our exalted head – is currently, so too have we been “raised … up with him and seated … with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2:6)
Out of the mouth of babies and infants…
Now, it’s from that highly exalted position that our Lord exerts his power on earth in the sense of what we’ve read in verse 2.
Certainly, the Lord can and does silence his enemies through physical babies and infants. The intricate way that they’re formed in the womb and how they’re sustained in their earliest years all speaks volumes as a testimony to God’s awesome power as we see it in the development and care of the smallest and most insignificant human creatures.
Did Jesus quote Psalm 8?
But we’re also reminded that our Lord quoted this exact verse when he entered Jerusalem for the final time in his earthly ministry.
You recall that the chief priests and scribes reacted against the praise that was being given to the “Son of David” by little children. Those men actually saw what the psalmist is praising the Lord for here in Psalm 8. They saw the wonderful or marvelous or majestic things that the Lord did in cleansing the temple and healing the blind and lame. He was confounding his enemies and caring for man even then.
But the response of those hard-hearted men was not praise – but indignation.
And in response to their criticism of him, Jesus quoted this very verse (Mat 21).
You might remember how those chief priests and scribes responded to Jesus’ quoting this verse…
It was exactly what this psalm says – stillness. They didn’t answer a word.
babies and infants
And brothers and sisters, we are those little children.
Jesus thanked the Father that he has revealed the things of the kingdom of heaven to us little children and not to the “wise and understanding” of this world (Mat 11).
Not many of us were wise or powerful or noble when God called us through the Gospel. And yet he uses us weak feeble creatures to shame and confound those who are wise and strong in this world. (1Co 1)…
to still the enemy and the avenger
Now, what is the impact of us praising the Lord even in the presence of his enemies?
They are stilled ultimately. The word there is Sabbath. They are caused to rest or to cease.
So, as the Church proclaims God’s law in this world, the result is that “every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (Rom 3). God causes the majority of his enemies to “cease” in this way.
But as we also proclaim the glorious gospel, God sees fit to give his elect rest – spiritual Sabbath rest – as those who were once formerly Christ’s enemies – laboring and heavy-laden as we were – come to him and take his yoke upon us (Mat 11).
Isaiah even says that “Kings shall shut their mouths because of [him/my servant] for that which has not been told them [the gospel] they see, and that which they have not heard they understand” (Isa 52:15).
And so, brothers and sisters, let’s not be ashamed to open our mouths and proclaim law and gospel as God gives opportunity – even and especially in the presence of God’s enemies. God will use that proclamation according to his will – whether to condemn the reprobate who have no desire to pursue Christ – or to gloriously save his elect. And he’ll do all of that through the means of our stammering and stuttering tongues…
So, we’ve meditated on our Lord’s universally majestic name – first, in his using the weakest of human creatures to confound his enemies in verses 1 and 2.
Psalm 8 Meaning Caring for Man (verses 3-8)
And now secondly – and lastly – we’ll consider our Lord’s universally majestic name – in his special care for man despite our relative insignificance – in verses 3-8…
Verses 3-4
We see once more the movement from heaven to earth as the psalmist’s contemplation of the heavens leads him to consider man’s place in God’s earthly creation – as we saw in verses 3 and 4.
Compared to the awesome work of God in the creation of the vast expansive heavens – mankind seems so insignificant. Why would God care for man when he’s created other things that are so much larger and more impressive and glorious?
Verses 5-8
And yet our God is mindful of us, and he does care for us. He demonstrated that in how he originally created us – according to verses 5-8.
What is meant by a little lower than the angels?
Despite us being nothing compared to the glory of heavenly bodies, yet God has made mankind just below the heavenly beings.
dominion over the works of your hands
Mankind has been put in the position of ruling over all of God’s good creation. How glorious that is!
… And yet, man fell in Adam – our original covenant head – when he sinned against God and broke the covenant which God had made with him in the garden.
Is Psalm 8 talking about man or Jesus?
And so now concerning all of these things that God had originally put under our feet – we have to admit as the author of Hebrews does, “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him” – to man (Heb 2).
In other words, if you’re looking at this part of Psalm 8 and then you turn your gaze to our current world, the two don’t perfectly match up.
But that’s because Psalm 8 isn’t just about us. It’s not just about the first Adam and his posterity. It actually was intended by God to point forward to the last Adam and those whom he represents.
Who is the son of man in Psalm 8?
This is one reason why the Lord Jesus in his earthly ministry took to himself this title “Son of Man” from this very psalm. He’s the one in whom this psalm finds ultimate fulfillment.
How does Jesus fulfill Psalm 8?
The first Adam was indeed created a little lower than the heavenly beings – like this psalm says.
So was our last Adam, according to his human nature in the incarnation.
What does it mean to be crowned with glory and honor?
Was Adam crowned with glory and honor? Indeed he was!
The first Adam was crowned by God with glory and honor… by being created as the pinnacle of the creation week. And he was given authority to rule over God’s first and earthly creation.
But our last Adam was also crowned with glory and honor… in his being raised from the dead after suffering for our sins to pay in full the penalty due our sins.
under his feet
The first Adam had all of God’s creation put under his feet… And he lost it all through his sin.
But our last Adam through his obedience is now sitting at God the Father’s right hand until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet – as he currently rules in the midst of those very enemies (Psa 110).
Our last Adam must continue to reign until he has finally put all of those enemies under his feet (1Co 15).
And the glorious reality is that we are those who once were God’s enemies. And now, God the Father has put even us in subjection to Christ and made him our new covenant head – the head of the Church (Eph 1) – replacing the covenant headship of the first Adam over us.
More and better to come!
And so, these realities are what God has done for us in our last Adam.
But there’s of course even more to come for God’s blood-bought saints. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, … God has prepared for those who love him” (1Co 2).
You might think that Adam had it good when he was granted dominion over the works of God’s hands in this first and earthly creation. But what about what lies in store for us in the new creation? With no sin or death or Devil! All things made new! Every enemy subdued! No crying or pain!
What will that be like?!
Application
So, brothers and sisters, what’s troubling you about your present situation? What part of this first and earthly and fallen creation is causing you distress?
Be of good cheer – your sins are forgiven in Christ! Comfort one another with these words – the Lord is reigning right now and he’s sovereign over all of your afflictions. And he will return for you – as he comes to finally still all of his enemies and put them under his feet… and to give us eternal rest.
You and I now reign in this spiritual kingdom of Christ where all things are being made new – and will be finally and perfectly renewed when our Lord – the Son of Man – that last Adam – returns at last to fully restore his entire creation.
Conclusion
And so, we exclaim with the psalmist to end this psalm, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
Brothers and sisters, let’s together lift up our hearts in prayer and praise to our majestic Lord as we pray to him now.
Explaining The Book 