"Crowned with Honor and Glory" Psalm 8b-9 Nov 30 2025
Notes
Transcript
Intro & Scripture Read
Intro & Scripture Read
Good morning, friends
We’re finishing up Psalm 8 today and we’ll also be looking at Psalm 9
As usual, I want to begin with reading a passage from each of those psalms
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.
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
And down to verse 18 -
For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
(Pray...)
Illustration
Illustration
My wife and I have been married for 23 years
Every now and then, I get the question: “How did you know she was the right one?”
She had all the right qualities:
Beautiful
Smart
Sense of humor - laughed at my jokes
etc
But the biggest reason:
She knew me!
As if she had an innate knowledge of me
I could tell her anything...
She knew all about me - and she still loves me
My wife knows all my secrets - she still loves me
All of this told me how much she loved me
Now, let me ask: How much does the Lord know about you?
After knowing everything about you, does he still love you?
No other God
Psalm 8
Psalm 8
Psalm 8 is a praise psalm of David
There are no laments, and no petitions from David
This psalm is about several things
It is about the name of the Lord
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
It is about his mighty strength
Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes...
It’s about his creation
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place...
It’s also about man when it says
what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
And also when it says
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
This is about creation, and it is about man
The question is - is Psalm 8 about Jesus?
The NT shines a light on this psalm that it is absolutely, about Jesus
But there is contention in the academic world about what David intended when he wrote it
When we come to the end of verse 4, and into verse 5, we read
...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.
A Jew back then, reading this, believe it or not, would not think of the coming Messiah
Not to get into the details on this - but I believe even David wasn’t thinking of Christ, the Messiah
The phrase “Son of Man,” referring to Jesus, originally came from the book of Daniel
Daniel clearly references Jesus
But Daniel came centuries later, after Psalm 8
Psalm 8 is not Messianic in the sense that David was consciously predicting the Messiah
Now, what does all of this mean?
I think David was talking about mankind
I don’t think he was predicting the coming Messiah
So, in a sense, Psalm 8 is about mankind
But, we have the benefit of the Bible interpreting the Bible - in that, we know Psalm 8 points to Jesus
There are several NT references to Psalm 8
But the most clear evidence of this is found in the NT Book of Hebrews, starting in verse 7
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.
So why have a psalm in the OT about mankind - but then we learn it’s about Jesus?
Here’s my straightforward interpretation
The New Testament shows us that Psalm 8 is Messianic in its fulfillment
What humanity failed to be, Jesus is
Psalm 8 is about man, and about God’s creation
It points to God’s intention of what man should be out of his creation
But what we all know is that mankind fell into sin - mankind failed
But the Book of Hebrews shows us there’s more
Jesus came as God, who was a perfect man to save us
When the Son of God came to earth, he took on our form
He came in the form of a man - while he remained God
God, displaying infinite humility, became one of us
A perfect one of us
To become the perfect sacrifice for us - to save us
Psalm 8 is not just about man. It is about what God has done to show his love for man.
Some people argue that Psalm 8 is not Messianic - because David didn’t intend for it to be Messianic
They look at the original intention - and the original context
My argument is this - it’s clear that it is Messianic - because the Bible says it is
This isn’t my speculation
This is the clear teaching from the New Testament
Psalm 9
Psalm 9
Psalm 9 is considered a lament psalm of David
It’s technically a lament psalm, but it has elements of praise
It starts off with thanksgiving
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
It’s important that we remember the deeds of the Lord
God said dozens of times throughout the OT, this basic message:
I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt
Over and over he said it
Why do you think the Lord did this?
God never wants us to forget what he’s done for us - because remembering his deeds helps us trust him more
This psalm mentions Israel's enemies
Verse 3 says
When my enemies turn back, they stumble and perish before your presence.
How God dealt with Israel’s enemies was absolutely paramount to them
It’s hard for us today, living in the modern United States, to grasp how crucial this was
Israel’s security as a nation depended on the Lord protecting them from the constant threat of the surrounding nations that opposed them
Imagine their fear, at times, of their enemies
Israel was often in a tenuous position because of the threat their enemies posed
They HAD to trust in the Lord
I want to switch gears - and I want to try something different
I want to go through the 9th psalm - and read select verses - to see if you can recognize a pattern:
Verse 9
The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Verse 10a
And those who know your name put their trust in you...
Verse 10b
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Verse 12
For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
Verse 13
Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
Verse 18a
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
Verse 18b
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
Do you get any pattern here?
...
This isn’t the wicked vs. the really good people
The wicked vs. those who got it all together
The wicked vs. the strong people
What did I just read to you?
The people God calls his own are:
The oppressed
Those who trust the Lord
Those who seek the Lord
The afflicted
Those who are hated
The needy
And the poor
I can’t stand up here and take the Psalms and tell you to get out there and try to be a good person
Be self-determined and act right!
I can’t teach that because that’s not what the Bible says
That’s not the Gospel
The Gospel says repent and believe
It does not say clean yourself up for Jesus
It does say, “deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus”
I’m all for good works and righteous living
BUT - that all comes out as a response to our relationship with the Lord
Relationship first - righteous living second
Abide
Abide
Jesus said:
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
We’ve been looking at the first nine psalms
They don’t use the term “abide” - but they’re saying the same thing
“Kiss the Son”
“You, O Lord, are a shield around me”
David says “Take refuge” in the Lord
“Save me, O my God”
“Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness!”
“For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
“I will bow down toward your holy temple.”
“Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies”
“Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”
How we live comes from our life in Jesus
If anything, how much do you turn to him?
How much do you take refuge in him?
Abide in the Lord - turn your face towards him
I have a special fondness for the concept of “abiding” when describing the Christian life perhaps because there is zero room for legalism
When I abide in Jesus and he in me, there's no requirement for me to perform certain tasks to draw closer to him because I am already in close communion with him
I simply remain with him, and he remains with me
Jesus eloquently illustrates this profound connection I share with him
As a Christian, I am now integrated into God's kingdom, occupying my rightful place within it
If I am a fruit-bearing branch, how could I possibly survive without him as my vine?
Because without him, I am a dead branch - at best, a dead branch with counterfeit fruit
But if I remain as the branch to him as my vine, how could I not produce fruit since the vine produces all the necessary nutrients for me to do so?
This picture of the vine and its branches makes it clear that when I remain with him, I will produce fruit
I don’t produce fruit in so that he’ll abide with me
I already abide in him - and I produce fruit because of him
And with the Father as my vinedresser (to prune me), am I not in the perfect environment to bear much fruit?
I suddenly realize that it’s not about my self-effort to do things in order to be a better Christian - I just need to stay with Jesus
The emphasis is on me abiding (remaining) with Christ
The emphasis is not on me trying to produce fruit on my own
Nor is it about me trying hard to be a better Christian
I don’t need to appease God by coming to him with a bunch of self-produced fruit so he can say to me, “Okay, let’s see what you got.”
Jesus says that if I keep his commandments I will abide in his love
Then he tells me that his commandment is to love others, just as he has loved me
This commandment to love others becomes sweet to my ears once I realize that I am so closely connected with Jesus
He is my vine - I naturally produce fruit because of this special relationship and because the Holy Spirit lives in me
And I am happy that the Father prunes (disciplines) me because he loves me and now I can produce much fruit
When Jesus came to Earth, he was made a little lower than the heavenly beings
He knows you intimately
And now he is crowned with glory and honor
Do you abide in him?
(Pray...)
Communion
Communion
(Pick one…)
Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he com
Benediction
Benediction
Heb 13:20-21
Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus,
the great shepherd of the sheep,
by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight,
through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
