Psalm 8

Psalm 8:1-9 (ESV) To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. 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 babes 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!

This psalm can be mistakenly seen as exalting the role of man within the creation. Yes, it shows our high place within the creation order and our responsibility to the cultural mandate, but this psalm is not about the high place of man, but the High and Exalted Lord and God of the Universe. It is a psalm that puts man in his place and God in His.

David begins and ends this psalm with the same appeal to the great, majestic name of God. He is a God known to the entire earth because the creation declares His glory. His name is proclaimed by even the most simple of us. His name is proclaimed in the victory over His and our enemies. It is only by understanding the majesty of God that we truly see our place: “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

Yet the majesty of His name in all the earth and God’s care for us come together in the work of Jesus Christ. It is in Jesus Christ that the fullness of God’s majesty is made known in all the earth. As the gospel goes forth to every tribe, tongue, and nation, God’s majesty is proclaimed. As the gospel goes out His care for the son of man is seen.

How then ought we pray? (1) That His name truly be majestic in all the earth. That the gospel of Jesus Christ would make its way into lands which have never heard the name of Jesus Christ, and that lands who once flourished as beacons for the gospel would once again shine the majesty of God forth from their midst. (2) That we would be caught up in the majesty of God. (3) For the coming of the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.