The Wonder of Our Worth

A few years ago, in the months following the COVID pandemic, a pastor friend of mind noted that he feels like he’s in a brain fog. Prior to getting COVID, he used to be able to spend a couple of hours each morning reading old, difficult texts. He noted that after getting COVID, he lacks the ability to concentrate for that kind of time. Hours of focus has become minutes.

There is a sense in which I am amazed that he could have ever done that, but certainly understand the challenge of a shortened attention span.

Whether through sicknesses like COVID, differences like ADD, or conditioning from our cell phones and other fast paced entertainment, it seems like we are losing our ability to think deeply on things and to reflect on matters with meaning. I find that I wrestle daily with focus and attention. Like the dog on the movie Up that is easily distracted by a squirrel, random thoughts, notifications, and a variety of other things keep pulling me away from the focusing on the tasks at hand. The illusion of multi-tasking makes me think that I’m getting more done, but I’m really just taking longer to do everything. In what I am doing, I don’t feel like I’m able to reflect deeply about matters, implications, and applications. That thinking muscle is getting atrophied.

Now, in our time together today, I don’t want to talk so much about tools for overcoming this waning, ability to think deeply (there are plenty of articles and books about that), but I do want to help us to see some of the benefits of slowing down and taking time to ponder.

Open your bibles to Psalm 8. (p. 422). There is a sense in which this psalm is the product of someone who made time to meditate, to reflect, to think deeply. As a result of his Spirit led deliberation, he gets to worship God and wonder about the worth of humanity. We get to benefit from his critical thinking, gaining encouragement regarding who God made us to be and what He calls us to do.

So far in our study of psalms we’ve seen an instructional or wisdom psalm, a royal psalm and several laments. Today, we get to experience a change in mood as David presents a psalm of praise. Wiersbe notes that this is “nature psalm” that has some messianic references (40).

The title of this psalm notes that it is to the choirmaster (indicating that this could be used for corporate worship), according to the gittith, a psalm of David. There is some question regarding the meaning of “gittith” in this usage. This is also used in the titles of Psalm 81 and 84. Both of these are also celebratory psalms. Several commentators have noted that gittith may cause this to be a “psalm of the winepress.” It’s as though the harvest has come in, and the work of pressing the grapes is afoot, and praise is on the lips of the worker.

As I’ve studied this psalm this week, trying hard to think deeply about it, I can almost imagine a young David out the Judean hills at night, caring for his father’s sheep, laying on the ground and viewing the wonder of creation. His looking up prompts him to praise God. His looking up prompts him to look in the mirror, in a manner of speaking.

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!

David opens this exultant psalm with a reflection on…

The supremacy of God (1-2)

This supreme God is personal - notice the names that he uses to acknowledge God - LORD or YHWH and Lord or Adonai. Yahweh is the covenant name of God. This is the God of Israel. This is the name the God used when He introduced himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14-15

Exodus 3:14–15 LSB

And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” And God furthermore said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name from generation to generation.

This name is used over 6800 times in the Old Testament (Smith and Aiken). In most of our English translations this name is rendered LORD in all caps.

Adonai is a bit more general - and yet it acknowledges the rule of God.

David is reflecting here on this great and awesome God who has made himself known to the people of Israel.

Michael Wilcock notes:

Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50 He Is Glorious Because He Is a Majestic God (8:1–2)

We can easily miss its shameless political incorrectness. The Bible world, like ours, was pluralistic, awash with all sorts of different beliefs: in the view of any correctly thinking person, all of them valid, but none of them actually “right” in such a way as to make the rest wrong. Not so the psalmist. The Lord, the God of Israel and the Bible, is not just our Lord, he says, but the name, the only name, to be honored in all the earth and even above the heavens. Little Israel is right, and the rest are wrong. (Message, 39)

People may worship other so called gods and serve other lords, but there is none like Yahweh. His glory rests not in temples or on mountain tops, but above the heavens. Decades later, David’s son Solomon would pray at the dedication of Israel’s first temple, 1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!”

The other day, Kim and Nancy Curington and I were discussing voice assistants available on our phones and the fact that we can get so much information instantly. Kim asked me to ask “where is the edge of the universe.” To which the response was that the universe is constantly expanding and has no edge.

As David may be laying under a night sky, he can consider the vastness of the universe before him. It dawns on him that God’s glory is above, beyond all of that. As expansive as the universe is, God’s glory is even more so. As high as the heavens are - God’s glory is above them, as beautiful as creation is, God is more beautiful.

In verse 2, David notes that out of the mouth of babes and infants God has established strength or ordained praise. Commentators have noted that this is a difficult verse to translate. The innocence and weakness of babies and infants, or something small, proclaims the praise or the strength of God. Israel, as weak and frail as it was, worships the one true God. He is not a territorial Deity, but the God of the universe.

In many ways, this is how God works. He always has, and always will.

The Apostle Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 “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.”

He learned to acknowledge his weakness and God’s strength during a season of suffering, 2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

We may be tempted to try to justify ourselves before God or prove that we are independent. We may try to rely on the strength of our talents or wealth or relationships or even our nation’s military might, but when we acknowledge our need for God, our own weakness and God’s strength, that’s when we get to see God act in beautiful and profound ways.

It’s in this that David begins to look in the mirror and consider…

The smallness of humans (3-4)

If’s God’s glory is above or beyond what he can see, then David begins to reflect on what he can see - the works of God’s “fingers” in the moon and the stars. He reflects on creation in worship and wonder and awe. We see this throughout the Psalms - like Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”

As he reflects on all of the works of God’s hands, David considers himself as part of that…

Psalm 8:4 “what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”

Hebrew poetry is filled with couplets - two lines that complement, contrast, extend or explain each other. In some ways, that’s what David is doing here. He is saying the same thing in two different ways.

In fact, he uses two different words for “man” or “human.” The first is enosh which generically applies to all of humanity and seems to reference our weakness or frailty. It nods to our mortality (Smith and Aiken). The second word he uses is rendered “son of man” or ben adam which points to our dependence (ibid). A child is dependent on a parent. You can’t have a son or daughter with out parents.

In this couplet, David seems to note that in spite of our smallness…

God considers us

He thinks about us.

There are a variety of views that people have of God. Some see God as generic force running through the universe. Others see God as one of many options. Some see God as far off and distant. But David has experienced that the great God of the universe considers us. He is transcendent and imminent - far off and near.

I don’t know how you view yourself today. I know for me, there are some days when I’m quite content; I’m okay with who I am, who God made me to be. There are other days, maybe even most days, when I feel worthless and insignificant, inadequate.

No matter how you view yourself, God considers you! Hear that again, God considers you! He thinks about you! You are on His mind! Let that sink in for a moment. The God who made everything in the universe that we can see and even all that we can’t see, thinks about you and me personally.

What is man that you are mindful of him?

What’s more, David notes that…

God cares for us

He doesn’t just think about us, but He has concern for us.

Of all of the things in the vast universe, God considers and cares for humans. We may be insignificant in the expanse of all that there is, our lives may be a mere blip on the timeline of eternity, but God considers and cares for us.

David could reference this as he reflected on God’s work throughout Israel’s history and even in his own life. Maybe he was thinking about when God helped him to defend the sheep from the attacks of predators. If this was later in his life, maybe it was those various times when God brought victory over a foe or protected him from an attack.

We can reference this when we reflect on the fact that God took on human flesh in order to redeem us from the curse of our sin. He doesn’t simply place expectations on you and me, but He embodies all that we are, and exemplified all that we should be. He doesn’t just try to show empathy, He cares for us in the ways he feels our feelings, knows our joys, grieves in our sorrows, experiences our loss.

Hebrews 4:15 ESV

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Beloved, you and I may feel insignificant, but David helps us to see that God considers us and cares for us, even in our smallness.

Friend, you may feel burdened by the weight of your sin. You may be mired in the guilt of your past, but know that God considers you. God cares for you! God loves you! And proved it by laying down His life for your sin. Do you believe it?

David helps us understand this more fully as he reflects on…

The significance of humans (5-8)

David sees this in the way that…

God created us

Maddie read for us earlier that God created us in His image.

Some science and our society tells us that we are merely a little better than animals. But David, profoundly notes that we are created a little lower than heavenly beings. You may have a note in your bibles that says that “heavenly beings” could be translated “angels” or even “God.” The Hebrew word there is elohim. Throughout the Old Testament, that word is translated “God.” In fact, any time we see a name with the prefix or suffix of “el” - as in “Jo-el” or “Dani-el” or “El-izabeth” is a reference to God.

So here, David is helping us to see our significance in that we are made in God’s image and are a little lower than God himself.

You are significant to God. You matter to God. God fashioned you just the way you are! The abilities and disabilities that you have are part of God’s design. God created us with certain strengths and weaknesses - and that’s okay.

Beyond that, David notes that…

God crowned us with honor

He put us above all of creation.

When an ambassador goes out from one country to another, he or she goes with the honor of the ruler of the home country. He is honored as a representative of the ruler.

Of all of the beautiful things that God created, only humans are created in His image. Only humans act as ambassadors of God.

In our sin, we often mess this up. We make ourselves big and God small. We need to remember that we are only significant, crowned with honor, because God crowned us!

The writer of Hebrews helps us to see Jesus in these verses. Jesus is the perfect example of being crowned with glory.

Hebrews 2:9–10 ESV

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. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Jesus redeemed the brokenness of our sin-stained image bearing, and gave up His life in a divine exchange for us. He gets a crown of glory and we get to share in that by His grace!

David says that God created and crowned humans, finally, he notes that…

God commissioned us

…to steward His creation

In the garden of Eden, God gave Adam dominion over the animals and plants. He told the first humans to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it (Gen. 1:28). He entrusted us with His creation. What a privilege! What an honor! What a responsibility!

Here David specifically notes animals. Now in this, I don’t think David is limiting our commission, but simply reflecting on a few types of animals that represent so many things:

Domestic animals - sheep and oxen.

Sheep: At M-Fuge a few weeks ago, we reflected a lot on Psalm 23 and the fact that God is our shepherd. If He is shepherd, then we are His sheep. The camp pastor noted that sheep are completely domesticated. They cannot naturally defend themselves. They are followers by nature. They need to be guided to places eat and drink. They need to be trimmed. They need care. As God cares for us as His sheep, He entrusts us to care for sheep as part of His creation. In addition to sheep as domesticated animals, David references…

Oxen: beasts of burden. Animals that are used for their strength to subdue the ground in order to make the ground fruitful for us.

But David also seems to note…

Wild animals

Around us - the beasts of the field - dear, wild boars, squirrels, elephants, lions, tigers, bears (oh my), and so much more.

Above us - the birds of the air. I love the fact that Danielle seems to have an eye for birds. She looks for the eagles that nest on the tree just outside of town. She admires the hawks that perch on our fence or circle overhead. She wonders at the cardinals and the other varieties of birds that seem to flutter through our yard. God entrusted those to us.

Not only the things around us and above us, but the things…

Below us - whatever passes along the sea - the endless varieties of fish, dolphins, whales, eels, crabs, lobsters, clams and so much more. Even those strange looking fish that swim in the deepest parts of the ocean.

All of this is part of God’s commission to us. How are we doing caring for His creation?

Beyond just caring for His creation, as David reflects here, Jesus commissioned us with His mission and message to the world.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We have been commissioned by the God of the universe. We are called to care for His creation and proclaim His gracious reign in the world.

Finally, his psalm ends the way that in began, with…

The supremacy of God (9)

Psalm 8:9 ESV

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

David exults and magnifies God’s name. Ultimately, all of this is for the glory of God. The Westminister Catechism states that… “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

In our smallness, we should glorify God, because we need Him. In our significance, we should glorify God because we are made in His image. In our stewardship, we glorify God as we care for His creation and call out those who are far from Him. In our very lives, we glorify God.

Closing thoughts

We began by noting how it is becoming more and more difficult for us to think about things. We’re letting our phones and computers do much of the thinking for us. We’re letting distractions pull our attention away from being able to observe and appreciate all that is there.

Let me encourage you to take some time today or maybe later this week, go outside, put the phone away, and just watch, wonder, worship. Thank God for who He is, what He made, and the fact that He made you.

Let’s pray.

Benediction:

Hebrews 13:20–21 ESV

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.

Questions for reflection and discussion

Read: Psalm 8

1. What do you like most about the outdoors?

2. What lessons about life have you learned from nature?

3. How does the first verse introduce the focus of the poem? (8:1)

4. How does the Lord silence His enemies? (8:2)

5. What motivated David to write this psalm? (8:3)

6. What did David find most amazing about God’s creation? (8:3–4)

7. How do people get all of their power and responsibility? (8:3–6)

8. With what value did God create people? (8:5)

9. How does the last verse unify the poem? (8:9)

Sources

Boice, James Montgomery. Psalms 1–41: An Expositional Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2005.

Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.

Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994.

Ross, Allen P. “Psalms.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985.

Smith, J. Josh, and Daniel L. Akin. Exalting Jesus in Psalms 1–50. Edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida. Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary. Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2022.

Wessel, W. W. “Blessed.” In New Bible Dictionary, edited by D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, and D. J. Wiseman. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Be Worshipful. 1st ed. “Be” Commentary Series. Colorado Springs, CO: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004.

Wilcock, Michael. The Message of Psalms 1-72. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001.