Psalm 8
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider 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,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Six observations on Psalm 8
"1. God is absolute. That is, he has no rivals. That’s the point of his name Lord in verses 1 and 9. Yahweh: I am who I am (Exodus 3:14). He always was. He is. And he always will be. Therefore, all things depend on him, and he depends on no one and nothing.
2. God is majestic in all the earth. And he means to be. This is the point of verses 1 and 9. These are not only statements of fact. They are also acclamations. When someone says, “How majestic is your name!” the name is being praised, not just described. The point of this psalm is not just that God is majestic, but that he should be known and praised as majestic. That is why he has created the earth and why he put people with minds and hearts on it—to know and praise his majesty. This is our great joy—to see and savor God’s majesty—and his great honor.
3. God has enemies. Verse 2, right in the middle of the verse: “because of your foes.” The foes of God are those who rebel against his majesty. They do not see him as majestic, and they do not want to praise him as majestic. They get far more pleasure out of getting praise for themselves than giving praise to God. The world has been ruined because of these enemies. And for the world to return to its proper purpose, these enemies will have to be dealt with.
4. God’s intention is to defeat these enemies with the voice of children and to give the dominion of his creation to men who are not his enemies. That is what we have seen in verses 2 and 6.
5. The reason God defeats his enemies with the voice of children is to give joy to the weak who love his majesty and to make plain to all that the majesty of this triumphant power is God’s and the joy of sharing in it belongs to the children.
6. The reason God shares his dominion over creation with human beings is to give joy to the kind of human beings who do not rejoice in usurping God’s prerogatives but who rejoice in making God’s majesty their supreme treasure."
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