Psalm 8

Jacob Cibas

Summer in the Psalms • Sermon • Submitted a month ago • Presented a month ago

Psalm 8

Hebrews 2

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Psalm 8 (ESV)

To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

1 O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

7 all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Introduction

I want you to take a moment and think about the most breathtaking view in creation you’ve ever seen.

One that simply amazed you. One that left you in awe. One that left you feeling small.

Do you have it?

Picture it in your head if you can.

Remember the feelings you felt when you saw it.

How incredible it was. That something so great and so big was right before your very eyes!

Standing before the vastness of creation makes us feel pretty small, doesn’t it?

I often feel this way when I visit the mountains.

It’s one of my favorite places to go.

In those moments, when I gaze out upon the mountain peaks, I realize how BIG God is and all that He has created is, and how small I am in comparison.

I also feel this way when I’m flying.

I love looking out the window during takeoff and watch everything get smaller, and smaller, and smaller…

And then we’re up in the clouds. Looking down below at the places, bodies of water, landmarks that all feel so big, until you view them from the sky.

Maybe it was a trip to the Grand Canyon and were left speechless by the vastness of it.

Or somewhere on a beach, or an island, or somewhere tropical.

Maybe it was when you were younger, looking up at the night sky trying to count the countless stars and spot the milky way.

We’ve all had our breath taken away at one point by creation.

Creation and it’s beauty can put into perspective how small we are.

Have you ever had the thought:

How does a God who created the sun, moon, stars, galaxies, and 7 billion other people have time to care about little ol’ me?

Maybe you’re here today and you feel small or insignificant.

You feel unseen. Unheard. Forgotten about.

Maybe you feel like you don’t have much value apart from what you do.

Your value is found in what you are able to accomplish.

Am I really that important to God?

Does He actually care about me?

Friends, do I have good news for you today.

I hope you’ve come prepared to have your heart stirred by God’s Word, because today’s Psalm is one that will have you leaving here joyful, hopeful, and encouraged in Christ today.

Because this Psalm, a Psalm of Praise, has a message that I want you to hear loud and clear today.

And that message is this:

Sermon

Main Idea

The Majestic God of All Creation Cares For You

Let me show you how this is true from Psalm 8 today.

Exposition

David opens and says,

1 O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

David begins this Psalm by acknowledging God’s majestic name. He also ends the Psalm this way in verse 9.

This is called an inclusio, where the the beginning and ending are the same. This is trying to make a point to us:

The majesty of God’s name is the emphasis of this Psalm!

Notice a few things here about God’s name:

David addresses Him twice… but, this isn’t David being redundant. These are actually two different names here.

If you look at verse 1, it says:

1 O LORD, our Lord,

Notice there is a difference in the capitalization of both names.

There’s a reason for this.

Anytime you see LORD in all caps in the Bible, that is referring to God’s covenant name Yahweh.

It means “I am who I am”. He is the unchanging God. He is the creator and ruler of everything. He has always existed, was never created, and all things exist because He created them.

So the first “LORD” is “Yahweh”, signifying God’s covenant name with His people.

And the second “Lord” is translating the word adonai which is a title for God, recognizing Him as King or ruler.

It’s also the first time in the Psalms where David refers to the Lord in the plural sense: “OUR Lord”. He is “OUR King”.

So think of it as David saying, “O Yahweh, our King, our Ruler, our Master”.

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

David points us to the majesty of God’s name.

Majesty meaning God’s power and might that is on display for us to see.

This covenant God, this mighty King, the One whose name is majestic all throughout the earth, has set His glory above the heavens.

You have set your glory above the heavens.

God’s majestic name is on display all throughout the earth and the heavens.

In other words: there’s nowhere His majestic name doesn’t reach!

It is pervasive. It is everywhere.

A person’s name says a lot about them.

You know it’s true: when you hear a certain name, you associate it with who that person is.

Their character. Their actions.

This can be a good thing or this can be a bad thing.

How many of you have chosen your child’s name because of someone you love and respect and admire?

On the flip side, how many of you have avoided a name because of some bad memories associated with it?

Names communicate something. They carry meaning.

Why is His name majestic?

Because of who He is.

His character, His actions, His works, they all point to His glorious, majestic name.

Babies and Infants

With a God so glorious, with a name so majestic, one might expect that only the most grand things are to display His glory.

You know, the strong, the mighty, the powerful, the beautiful, the put-together.

Because this is how glory is displayed, right?

Like, it’s gotta be the mighty warrior, the macho man, the powerful King who is displaying God’s glory.

Well, what David says next is interesting… maybe even a little confusing at first.

David says that:

2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

Babies and Infants?

It seems a bit strange… something quite the opposite of mighty, strong, and powerful

They can’t even speak cohesive sentences!

They goo goo and gaa gaa, they cry, they might mumble a few words, they sometimes speak in their baby language at best…

But David says that strength is established out of the mouth of babies and infants, to still and silence the enemy and avenger!

It seems counterintuitive! It seems backwards.

But this is exactly what God intended.

Things that are weak, such as babies and infants, who can’t do a whole lot apart from their parents care, are the very ones God uses to display His glory.

It’s the babies and infants that silence the enemy and avenger, not the strong and powerful.

This shows us just how powerful and mighty our God is.

God doesn’t need human strength.

God is all powerful.

He will be glorified, He will be praised, even from the mouths of infants and babies.

Jesus quoted this verse the week He rode into Jersualem on a donkey, fulfilling a prophecy from long ago.

He was being praised by the people, including children, who were crying out “Hosanna to the Son of David!”

The chief priests and scribes were not happy with this, saying to Jesus, “Do you hear what they’re saying?”

And Jesus says to them,

Matthew 21:16 (ESV)

16 “Yes; have you never read,

“ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

I’m sure this threw them for a loop, as Jesus was in this moment quoting Psalm 8 in reference to HIMSELF as God!

Jesus’ name is majestic and mighty, for He is God. Even the lowly and the weak, the children, recognized it.

What is Man?

David, in reflecting on the strength God receives from the mouths of the lowly and weak, babies, looks up at the night sky and pens these words:

3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

David looks at creation, the moon and stars that exist and are placed exactly where God wants them,

and says, “God, who am I that you are mindful me, that you care for me?”

Like, what’s so special about me? What’s so special about mankind that you remember us?

Don’t let the magnitude of this slip past you.

If you feel insignificant, or forgotten, or like God is too busy to care about you and what is going on in your life,

Please realize what David is saying here.

In a world where the Grand Canyon exists, where Mount Everest exists, in a universe where the Milky Way, billions upon billions of stars and galaxies exist…

God remembers man. And He cares for him. He looks after him.

Making it personal: God remembers YOU. And He cares for YOU. He looks after YOU.

We are known and cared for by the majestic God who created us.

We seem so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things…

And yet, God knows us.

And not just on a surface level, as if He knows the basic facts and our whereabouts.

He knows us intimately, for He knit us together in our mother’s wombs.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

He cares for us.

He meets our needs. He looks out for us. He has us in mind.

Let this reality bring you joy today.

We seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and yet,

A Little Lower

David says,

5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

The phrase “heavenly beings” comes from the Hebrew word “Elohim” which often means “God”, but can also mean “gods”, “heavenly beings”, or “angels” as we see it in Hebrews.

In any case, the point is that God has given crowned mankind with glory and honor, with great dignity.

Glory

There’s two times the word “glory” is used in Psalm 8.

Once in the beginning where God’s glory is set above the heavens, and here where humanity is crowned with glory.

This is huge to recognize.

Notice that God Himself crowns humanity with glory.

Why?

Image Bearers

Because God created us in His image to reflect who He is to the world.

We are meant to be little reflections of Him.

We are the only created beings made in His image.

And because of this, He has crowned us with glory and honor.

We have intrinsic value. We have real dignity.

And it is completely apart from what we do.

Apart from our performance.

Apart from the titles and positions we hold.

It’s something we all possess.

Every race, every people group, the born, the unborn, the young, the old, those in-between

If they are human beings, they are made in God’s image. They are crowned with glory and honor.

Are we treating people as if they are made in God’s image?

Do we treat ourselves as if we are made in God’s image?

Dominion

Because we are made in God’s image, made to reflect Him and what He is like, He has given us a job, a role to play here on this earth:

6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

7 all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

God rules and reigns over all creation. Therefore, being made in his image, we are to rule and reign over the earth.

What we see here is David making a connection to the creation account in Genesis.

In Genesis 1:28, God tells Adam and Eve to:

28“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

So from the very beginning of creation, God gave His image bearers the authority to rule, to have dominion, over the earth and the rest of creation.

What a gift from God!

He has entrusted the ruling and reigning of this earth to frail, tiny humans like us!

And it has nothing to do with our performance or our goodness.

It all has to do with our majestic God.

It all comes from Him in the first place.

And this is what causes David to end the Psalm just as he started it, saying:

9 O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Why doesn’t it feel like it?

Here’s a question we’ve got to ask:

If it’s true that man has dominion over the earth and the works of God’s hands, why doesn’t it feel like it?

I mean, just take a look at our world.

Turn on the news for five minutes.

Does it seem to be in order? Does creation seem to be in full control by mankind?

I don’t know about you, but it doesn’t feel like mankind is “ruling” and “reigning” like Psalm 8 says.

But why is that?

We know this Psalm is true.

So where’s the disconnect?

The Problem

A moment ago we read from Genesis 1, where God is giving commands to His creation.

God creates Adam, our first representative.

The one called to rule and reign over God’s creation.

But, then comes Genesis 3.

And this is where everything takes a turn.

The very first line of Genesis 3 says,

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

And in that very moment, man’s rule and reign was threatened, and eventually forfeited, with it being taken over by Satan the crafty serpent.

Adam and Eve sin against God, failing to rule and reign as they were called to do.

And everyone who comes from this family line is just like Adam and Eve, failing to do what God called them to do.

Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Solomon, and all the others had moments of greatness, but they never quite fulfilled the role of ruler as God intended.

They were sinful. They were broken.

Ultimately, we needed a new start to humanity. A new representative. Someone who would rule and reign the way God intended.

How do we make sense of Psalm 8?

We make sense of it by seeing that Jesus is that new representative.

He is the One who comes and does perfectly what God intended.

The majesty of God is seen most clearly in the person of Christ.

Christ Connection

The God of all creation, who cares deeply for you and me, cared enough to send us Savior in the midst of our sin and brokenness.

Jesus Christ is the true and better Adam. The One who came to fulfill the mandate that Adam, Noah, David, and the rest of mankind could ultimately not fulfill.

The New Testament speaks to Jesus being the fulfillment of Psalm 8.

There are multiple places we could turn to. But, we will turn to one for now.

Let me show you this reality from Hebrews.

Verses 4-6 | Hebrews 2:5-9

The author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 8, writing:

Hebrews 2:5–8 (ESV)

5 For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,

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

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

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

you have crowned him with glory and honor,

8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”

The author quotes Psalm 8, but he doesn’t just stop there; he tells us about Jesus, the One who was able to fulfills this Psalm perfectly.

He says,

Hebrews 2:8–9 (ESV)

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. 9 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.

Doctrine of Hebrews 2

You want to know how much God cares for you, Church? Here’s how much.

Jesus, God the Son, left His place in heaven and took on a human nature. He is truly God, and truly Man.

He is far greater and far superior than the angels, but for a short time while on this earth, He subjected Himself to the weakness of humanity.

To become lower than them for a time in order that He could:

Experience what we experience. Yet without a hint of sin.

Suffer as we suffer. But in an even greater way, suffering to the point of death.

The innocent One, the God-Man who never sinned, tasted death for everyone.

And because of this, He was crowned with glory and honor forever and ever.

He is the One, the only One, who was able to rule and reign as God intended.

Jesus Christ is the perfect human.

He is what we were supposed to be.

And one day, because of His finished work, we will be like Him, made perfect and without sin for good in heaven.

And, catch this…

Rule and Reign with Him

The Bible says that we will rule and reign with Christ when He returns.

Those who endure, those who follow Christ, will reign with Him, as Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:12.

How unworthy we are, how fallen and broken we are,

yet God in Christ loves us and restores us and invites us to reign with Him,

carrying out dominion over the creation as we were originally supposed to,

watching and learning from Him.

Gospel

Do you see how much God cares for you?

He created everything. He hung the moon and stars in the night sky. He has named and numbered them.

And yet He remembers YOU. He provides for YOU.

And even when we fail to do what He has called us to do, to rule and reign over His creation,

He doesn’t abandon us.

No.

He sends Jesus to do it for us.

What an incredible God we serve!

Christian

Christian in the room: be reminded of God’s infinite love and care for you today. The One True God has called you out of your sin and saved you in Christ. Christ has done everything you couldn’t do.

Rest in His finished work today.

Let it fill you with joy that you are known and cared for by the God of all creation.

Remember your intrinsic value as one made in God’s image.

Non-Christian

And if you’re here today and you haven’t turned from your sin to the God of all creation, He invites you to do so today.

He has done everything necessary to secure salvation for sinners who come to Him. You must turn from your sin and trust in Him.

And when you do, you will experience the joy and satisfaction of being in relationship with the God who created you, cares for you, and sent His Son to die for you.