Psalm 8

Welcome–Quick Announcements-Men’s Breakfast–DNOW

Usually VBV but we’ve been looking at the Psalms–Reasons we study the bible this way:

-Grow closer to God–Know him–love what he loves–value what he values

–Grow in the Word–Know it’s original intent

–It produces more faithful, steadfast followers of Jesus

Open up to Psalm 8–Notetakers are world changers

Background:

-This Psalm is absolutely one of my favorites

-It was written by King David during a tough time of his life

-This Psalm was important–quoted by Jesus, Paul, and writer of Hebrews

READING OF THE WORD: LEX

Psalms 8:1-9 NASB

LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, You who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have set in place; What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You have him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put everything under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. LORD , our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!'

PRAY

Have you ever heard the phrase: Wrong THINKING leads to wrong LIVING

Let me give an example–Lets say that I think that I’m the boss–We know this isn’t true but sometimes we can think things about ourselves that isn’t true right–Let’s say I’m the boss and I walk into Matt’s office–Tell him You’re fired–What’s going to happen? Laugh and I’m looking for a new job–Wrong thinking leads to wrong living

One more–Lets say I bought a lotto ticket and assumed that I was going to win–So this Sunday–You get a car!!!--and then I miss it by one number–Lots of mad people–Wrong thinking leads to wrong living

This statement is so true in our faith–When we think the wrong things then we do the wrong things

Heard a pastor say–How you pray reveals what you really think about God–Small prayers, small God–Only about you, God is made to serve you–Pray this formula or it won’t work, Vending Machine god

When we don’t view God rightly, when we don’t understand our place in His plan, we won’t follow him the right way– My hope for today-We would see God rightly and we would be grateful for what he has done for us

Mentioned David being in a tough time–Psalm is perfectly place

Psalm 1–How to be a tree of life

Psalm 2–Point to a messianic king coming to bring justice

Psalm 3-7 David is on the run from enemies (Saul/Absolom)

Psalms 9-14 David and poor/afflicted ones waiting for God to deliver them

Right in the middle is Psalm 8–And here is how it starts-

LORD, our Lord– literally YHWH our adonai–Or YHWH our master, how majestic is your name in all the earth–Anyone use the word majestic? No–means mighty or powerful

You have displayed your splendor above the heavens–Theres another word–Anyone say splendor? No–means authority or strength

Now this is cool–Hes says above the heavens–What does that mean? In their time, they referred to the skies as the heavens–We will see this breakdown as we keep moving

Psalms 8:2 NASB

'From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful.

Remember this is poetry right…He’s going to use imagery here–He just talked about God’s authority and strength being on display–About how mighty his name is on the earth

So who shouts about these things–infants and nursing babies…What? What does that mean

God chose the WEAK to tell of His STRENGTH!

How strong are babies? How self-sustaining are they?  But they are the ones tell of God’s strength and might–This is an allusion to humanity-see it in the next couple of verses

This is pretty cool–what does their praise do–does away with the enemy–When David writes this, does he have enemies? Yes, he’s running from them

We see this play out in Matt 21–Triumphant entry–Clears the temple–Kids are saying Hosanna (please rescue us) Son of David–Religious leaders mad–Do you hear what they're saying? Listen to what J says

Matthew 21:16 CSB (Not on Screen)

…Jesus replied, “Yes, have you never read(ha haven’t you read the bible?): You have prepared praise from the mouths of infants and nursing babies? 

They were praising the messiah and it silenced the enemies (religious leaders)—God chose the weak to tell of his strength and it silences the enemy!

Psalms 8:3-5 NASB

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have set in place; What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!

Imagine this scene with me–David looking up at the heavens–the moon and the stars–Can you imagine the awe in him?--Living in Panhandle first time–So many stars–Check out this pic (IMAGE 1)

God this is amazing…it’s massive…maybe thinking about the abrahamic promise--It’s mind blowing

Let’s take this illustration even further–In that time, they thought the stars were the angels–So he’s looking what he thinks is powerful heavenly beings

Then imagine him seeing himself–Comparing–what am I compared to that!–Let me show you another way—Here is what man was made out of (IMAGE 2)

God, when I look up, I see splendor, strength, might, and beauty–When I look in, I see rebellion, weakness, and dirt–What is man that you would think of him, that you are even concerned about him?

Love what Tony Evans says:

Modern man tends to be full of himself because God is so small in his eyes. But, when we see God as he truly is (massive!), we understand how truly miniscule we are.

I think that is exactly where David is right now–He’s got the right perspective of how big God is and how small and weak we are

but it doesn’t stop there–Next word, YET–you made him a little lower than God and crowned him with Glory and honor

I want to remind you of something this morning

God VALUES and CARES for humanity!

David asks God two big questions–What is man that you think about him…Let me ask you a question…Does God think about you?

The answer is yes–Psalm 139 talks about God forming you in your mothers womb but it doesn’t stop there–It says that he also thinks about you–How much? 

Psalms 139:17-18 NASB

How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand…

God didn’t just make humanity, wipe his hands clean, and then go on to the next thing…No he is thinks about us…alot

What is man that you are even concerned? Is God concerned? Yes

Scripture says he’s near to the broken hearted…How would he know your broken hearted if he wasn’t concerned

Listen the Bible says that God bottles our tears in the Psalms-and that he knows the hairs on your heads–for some that’s easier–but it’s cuz he’s close!

Many times in the Gospel–Jesus moved because he was filled with compassion–You can’t have compassion if you aren’t concerned

But lets go back to genesis–Everything that was created was made to benefit humanity

Sun and moon- Light

Water- to drink

Land- living on and restrain water

Animals– Food and co labor

Plants–Food and medicine

Listen–If God wasn’t concerned with humanity, then he would’ve never sent Jesus–Right? Why would he give up his only son for someone he wasn’t concerned about?

Jesus’ coming is the final and unanswerable proof that God cares.— William Barclay (New Testament Scholar)

Does God think about us? Yes. Is God concerned? Yes

And then he crowned us with glory and honor. What does that look like? He made us in His image...Nothing else…not even the angelic beings…and then He gave us authority

Psalms 8:6-8 NASB

'You have him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put everything under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 

The works of his fingers that David was admiring, God put man in charge of

Another Genesis reference–David refers back to the original mandate given to Adam and Eve in the garden–be fruitful, multiply, tend the garden–Mans original design was to worship God and co labor with Him…the big question is how well did we follow that design?

We didn’t do well at all..In Fact, We failed…and that could’ve been the end of the story…but it wasn’t…remember when I said this text mattered…That Jesus, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews quoted it…and that Psalm 2 was about a messianic King…This psalm points to it

CUE: Hebrews 2:5-9 CSB (readability)

'For he has not subjected to angels the world to come that we are talking about. But someone somewhere has testified: What is man that you remember him, or the son of man that you care for him? You made him lower than the angels for a short time; you crowned him with glory and honor and subjected everything under his feet. For in subjecting everything to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. But we do see Jesus —  made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone — crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.

The writer of Hebrews uses Psalms 8 to point to Jesus–

–Out of the mouths of babies and infants–Jesus came down as a baby

–Lower than God/Angels–Came down as a servant

–Crowned with glory and honor because he took on death for humanity

–And now all things are under his feet

I imagine David in a field somewhere, maybe thinking about the promise that God made him–That a king from his line would rule forever–remembering the consistency of God pulling through for him–and then Praising God for who he is and how Good he is

Big idea for today:

How we SEE God determines how we FOLLOW him

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.  -A. W. Tozer

David knew how big and powerful God was, He knew that God is sovereign and in control, but he also knew that God cares and God is good and it caused him to worship him

Maybe we may need to humble ourselves and reevaluate how we see God–Do we treat him as if he is little–Do we see him more as a vending machine–Do we see him as the creator of universe who has done mighty things

Maybe for you it’s different–Maybe you see yourself as insignificant or are hurting–Maybe you need to hear that God cares and God is concerned–I want to remind you that He’s near and you matter to him

Lastly, maybe you feel like your on the run and you just need Jesus–Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart–Talk to a pastor, check the box on a connect card

When we view God rightly and see how good he is, then maybe we will say the same thing that David did in vs 9

Psalms 8:9 NASB

'LORD , our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!'

PRAY–Prayer teams up front