Your Name Is Glorious In All The Earth (Psalms 8)

Intro: Good Morning FE, I am so glad you are here worshipping with us today. Have you ever been amazed by something or someplace? When you saw this thing or place, you were just in awe. I remember when we had a family trip to New York, we drove from Arkansas to Niagara Falls, we arrived around 11 at night, checked in to a hotel, and drove straight to Niagara Falls, when we arrived it was amazing, walking up you can hear the roar of the water moving towards the falls, then the when we arrived to the falls it was amazing and they were lit up with different lights and just to see this amazing handiwork of God, we stood in awe, we were amazed at the beauty and wonder of God’s handiwork.

I believe that is what is going on in this Psalm written by David, David may recall the days when he was shepherd, watching his flock at night, looking to the sky and seeing the bright moon and stars, shining down on him and David begins thinking about God, and this is what he writes.

Psalm 8 (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.

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!

Oh Señor, Señor nuestro, cuán glorioso es tu nombre en toda la tierra, que has desplegado tu gloria sobre los cielos! 2 Por boca de los infantes y de los niños de pecho has establecido tu fortaleza, por causa de tus adversarios, para hacer cesar al enemigo y al vengativo.

3 Cuando veo tus cielos, obra de tus dedos, la luna y las estrellas que tú has establecido, 4 digo: ¿Qué es el hombre para que de él te acuerdes, y el hijo del hombre para que lo cuides? 5 ¡Sin embargo, lo has hecho un poco menor que los ángeles, y lo coronas de gloria y majestad! 6 Tú le haces señorear sobre las obras de tus manos; todo lo has puesto bajo sus pies: 7 ovejas y bueyes, todos ellos, y también las bestias del campo, 8 las aves de los cielos y los peces del mar, cuanto atraviesa las sendas de los mares.

9 ¡Oh Señor, Señor nuestro, cuán glorioso[h] es tu nombre en toda la tierra!

What an amazing Psalm written by David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for us to learn from and grow in our knowledge and awe of God. Notice David’s words, O LORD, our Lord, just like last week we see God use the covenantal name of God (Yahweh) and Adonai, because as we will see, God is both transcendent and near to us. God is far above us, but yet is relational with us, he is the sovereign ruler of all creation who has chosen to enter into a relationship with humanity.

David goes on and says “how majestic is your name in all the earth!” David is in awe of God, we know, it’s night time and David is looking to the sky and observing the moon and stars and David is overwhelmed by God creation and proclaims “how majestic, glorious, beautiful, is your name in all the earth” That word for majesty can be translated as glorious, as it is in Spanish, or excellent, or beautiful. But when we think of majesty, glory or beauty, what does David mean, when he proclaim how majestic, glorious, beautiful is your name in all the earth. What is majestic or glory mean? Here is what the Bible means when it talks about God’s glory,

God’s glory is his holiness on display in the earth.

When we see the public display of God’s holiness in the earth, that is what we call God’s glory. and in Psalms 8, David talks about God silencing his enemies, David writes about God creating the moon and stars and calls it the work of God’s fingers, talking about God setting the moon and stars in the perfect places with his hands. David talks about the creation of man and how God has designed man in his image and likeness to have dominion and authority over creation. God silencing his enemies, God’s creation of the moon and stars, God’s creation of man with identity and purpose. All of this is God’s holiness on display and brings David to worship and sing you are glorious in all the earth.

This reminds me of the angels around the throne of God from Isaiah’s vision, they are calling out,

Isaiah 6:3 (ESV)

And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Santo, Santo, Santo, es el Señor de los ejércitos, llena está toda la tierra de su gloria.

Notice the angels do not say the whole earth is full of your holiness, they say the whole earth is full of your glory because the public display of God’s holiness is God’s glory and in Psalms 8 David is thinking things that make God different than his enemies, different than creation, different than us as humans, and David says “your glory is above the heavens” God you are transcendent, you are high and exalted, you are so holy that your glory is above the heavens.

As I was studying this Psalm, I kept asking myself, why in the world does David say “out of the mouths of babies and infants you establish strength… to still the enemy”. I kept thinking why does David say that out of all the things he could say. When I don’t understand something in the Scriptures, I begin looking for the answers, i looked to commentaries, and other sermons to discover what others have said. When I looked at what John Piper had to say about this, he points out there is a pattern from the end of vs 1 - 8. The pattern is this,

God you are glorious

God chooses to use the weak

for the purpose of displaying strength and ruling the earth

What we learn from this Psalm, what astounds David, what drives him to worship is that this transcendent God who created the universe, who created man with identity and purpose, has chosen to ...

to use the weak in the world to display his glory and strength.

Let’s look at this pattern in Psalms 8 a little closer.

1c - you have set your glory above the heavens - here we see David amazed by God’s glory, that his glory is not of this world, it is above the heavens. Then we see David move to verse 2.

2a/b - Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes - What David is saying is...

God uses the mouth of babies to defeat his enemies

We have several babies around our congregation this morning, we can see that those babies are dependent on their parents for everything, they are dependent on their parents for their very existence. We see their frailty and weakness, yet God says I use them to establish my strength to defeat my enemies. God uses the weak to display his strength and rule the earth.

What’s interesting is Jesus quotes this passage in Matthew 21, on the day we know as Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode humbly into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people are waving palm branches and rejoicing in Jesus and the children are crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David”, which literally means save us Son of David, associating Jesus as the Messiah who was to come. Then Jesus cleanses out the temple from the money changers, this is what comes next...

Matthew 21:15–16 (ESV)

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,

“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies

you have prepared praise’?”

15 Pero cuando los principales sacerdotes y los escribas vieron las maravillas que había hecho, y a los muchachos que gritaban en el templo y que decían: ¡Hosanna al Hijo de David!, se indignaron 16 y le dijeron: ¿Oyes lo que estos dicen? Y Jesús les respondió*: Sí, ¿nunca habéis leído: «De la boca de los pequeños y de los niños de pecho te has preparado alabanza»? 17 Y dejándolos, salió fuera de la ciudad, a Betania, y se hospedó allí.

WOW! Here we see Psalms 8 on display for us, the chief priest and scribes are furious, and Jesus quotes Psalms 8 and asks them haven’t you read “out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise”. You see Jesus knew the chief priest and scribes knew that passage and if Jesus is quoting vs 2 of Psalms 8 about the praise of the children, what does that make the chief priest and scribes? God’s enemies and they knew that is what Jesus was insinuating. God was using the weak to establish his strength to still the enemies.

David restarts the pattern in vs 3,

3 - God you are glorious - “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars, which you have set in place.” When I look at your creation I can’t help to think, God you are glorious! What does David say next...

4 - what is man that you are mindful (remember) him, the son of man that you care for him? - God you are so glorious what am I compared to your glory, compared to your creation, what am I that you remember me, that you care for my needs, I am just a weak, frail, sinful man. But what does the rest of the Psalm say?

5-8 - you made him a little lower than than God - You may be thinking, wait a minute my translation says heavenly beings or angels. The Hebrew word David uses here is elohim, which can mean gods or angels, which it is used that way in other Psalms, but Elohim is also one of the names of God. When David says you made him, he is thinking about Genesis 1 & 2, the creation narrative and in the creation narrative the name that is used for God over and over is Elohim, God who is majestic in power. David is remembering that God made us in his image and likeness, David says you crowned him with glory and honor, we find our identity in God and who he made us to be. Listen to me, adults, youth, children in the room, our society has an identity crisis, we no longer know who we are because we have detached ourself from God and look to other things to give us identity. Which causes our whole being to be out of order because we are letting other things, ideas and philosophies define who we are. But you are God’s creation, crowned with glory and honor, designed for a purpose, to bring glory to God and care for creation (read vs 6-8). If you are looking for identity and purpose, if you are asking yourself who am I and why I am here? Don’t look to evolution for the answers, don’t look to worldly philosophies for the answers, don’t even look within yourself and your own imagination for the answer, because you will be left disillusioned, depressed and wanting. Look to your creator because he has designed you with an identity and purpose and what we see in Psalms 8 is that God has chosen...

to work through weak men and women to rule and display his glory on the earth.

Do you see the pattern, David

Describes God’s glory - your glory is above the earth, your hands placed the moon and stars and set them in the heavens.

Then describes the weak - babies and humanity - what is man that you even remember and care for him.

We see how God uses the weak, to display his glory and rule the earth. the babies establish strength and silence the enemies, God has created men and women with glory and honor and rule the earth.

We see this principle displayed for us in the New Testament for us as well, Paul writing to the Corinthian church says

1 Corinthians 1:26–31 (ESV)

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Pues considerad, hermanos, vuestro llamamiento; no hubo muchos sabios conforme a la carne, ni muchos poderosos, ni muchos nobles;27 sino que Dios ha escogido lo necio del mundo, para avergonzar a los sabios; y Dios ha escogido lo débil del mundo, para avergonzar a lo que es fuerte; 28 y lo vil y despreciado del mundo ha escogido Dios; lo que no es, para anular lo que es; 29 para que nadie[s] se jacte delante de Dios. 30 Mas por obra suya[t] estáis vosotros en Cristo Jesús, el cual se hizo para nosotros sabiduría de Dios, y justificación, y santificación, y redención,31 para que, tal como está escrito: El que se gloría, que se gloríe en el Señor.

God chose the weak so that no one can boast in the presence of God. God chose the weak to display his glory and rule the earth and because of God, we are in Christ and Jesus is our wisdom, Jesus is our righteousness, Jesus is our holiness, Jesus is our redeemer.

Listen to what the writer of Hebrews, quoting Psalms 8 and applying it Jesus says,

Hebrews 2:5–9 (ESV)

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere,

“What is man, that you are mindful of him,

or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned him with glory and honor,

putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Porque no sujetó a los ángeles el mundo venidero, acerca del cual estamos hablando. 6 Pero uno ha testificado en cierto lugar diciendo:

¿Qué es el hombre para que de Él te acuerdes, o el hijo del hombre para que te intereses en Él? 7 Le has hecho un poco inferior a los Ángeles; le has coronado de gloria y honor, y le has puesto sobre las obras de tus manos[b]; 8 todo lo has sujetado bajo sus pies.

Porque al sujetarlo todo a él, no dejó nada que no le sea sujeto. Pero ahora no vemos aún todas las cosas sujetas a él. 9 Pero vemos a aquel que fue hecho un poco inferior a los ángeles, es decir, a Jesús, coronado de gloria y honor a causa del padecimiento de la muerte, para que por la gracia de Dios probara la muerte por todos.

WOW! The writer of Hebrews takes Psalms 8 and applies applies it to Jesus and Hebrews is saying is through Jesus death, sin, death and satan are and all of God’s enemies are conquered. When the writer of Hebrews says, all things are in subjection to Christ, he is saying Christ is supreme over all and through the death of Jesus on the cross, he conquered all his enemies, he conquered sin, he conquered death, he conquered satan. All things are in subjection to Christ, he reigns supreme over all thing above the earth, in the earth and under the earth. Where Adam failed Jesus is victorious and ...

Through the humble death of Christ on a cross, God defeats his enemies.

Not only does Jesus defeat his enemies, but

Christ is exalted and rules all things and his glory fills the earth.

Christ is highly exalted and has the name above all names. He is highly exalted and worth of all praise, glory, honor. He sits on the throne, ruling reigning, working there is nothing outside his control. Notice the writer of the Hebrews says “at present, we do not see everything in subjection to him.” When we look at our world, it looks like it is in chaos, right? The world looks like chaos is ruling it not Jesus. But, what Hebrews is telling us the world may look like it is in chaos, but Jesus is ruling over the world and God is still in control because Chris rules all things and one day, we will see Christ reigning and ruling, and you know what is glorious, that he invites us to be part of his kingdom, he invites you and me to come to him, to live for him and to rule with him

Revelation 3:21 (ESV)

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Al vencedor, le concederé sentarse conmigo en mi trono, como yo también vencí y me senté con mi Padre en su trono.

This should drive us to awe and wonder and cry out “O LORD, Our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”