To the Glory of Yahweh - Devo

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. Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8 is all about God's glory, and how God saturates the story of creation, and the story of redemption with His glory. If we read Psalm 8 in the context of Biblical history, we see so many connections back to Genesis 1-3. God promises in Genesis 3:15 God promises that the seed of the woman (from Adam to Jesus) would overcome the serpent. Yahweh’s promises are sure, and David knows it! He anticipates that Yahweh will restore his creation and conquer over his foe.

Remember that back in Genesis 1 God gave earth to Adam and Eve as a place to care for and rule over – our rule is an extension of God’s own. David says we are a little lower than the angels, yet our dominion over the world is an extension of Yahweh’s. We are God’s vice-regents. We see how David notes this later on in the psalm. Yet, humanity failed, and decided to disobey God and chose to follow the usurper – Satan – instead. The “foes” David speaks of are those who choose to try and set up their own glory apart from God.

As we read this psalm, we see David considering how God is great, mighty, and majestic. Then he says, “out of the mouths of babies and infants…” What? Why would God need to use infants or babies.

So, as David thinks about humanity - even his own position as the king of Israel - he sees his dominion (and the dominion of all humanity) as an extension of God’s glory. Yet he also sees the predicament with sin humanity is in. David praises God because He is glorious, but also because He is triumphant over His foes. David shows how God will use babies and infants (think about Christ coming as an infant) to reverse the effects of sin and death. David praises God because ultimately He demonstrates His glory and might in creation, and redemption.

In my son’s room, above his cradle hangs a picture showing a glowing mountain and lake scene at sunset. Above the scene reads the inscription of Psalm 8:1, “Oh Lord our Lord…” My son is a testament to God’s glory.

My son is a testament to God’s glorious work in creating new life, but also a picture of how, down through the generations, God protected and superintended the line of King David, so that Christ might come and defeat sin and death. Moreover, my son is God’s gift to me, allowing me to pass down the vice-regency of creation to the next generation, and continue the praise of Yahweh’s name.

David ends the psalm with the very same phrase he started it with: “Oh LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 1:9). Yahweh’s name is truly majestic! If you need proof, look no further than children. Remember, God used the seed of a woman to defeat Satan, and gives us the ability to pass the vice-regency of creation down from generation to generation. Every child is a gift, and exemplifies God’s creative work! Psalm 8 praises Yahweh because of creation, because of redemption, and because Yahweh has given us the ability to steward his creation, and reflect glory back on him.

Questions: How does Psalm 8 cause you to praise Yahweh? How can you see the hand of God working out redemption throughout the Bible?