Psalm 8 - A Little Lower than the Angels

Hi everybody, it’s great that you’re here today. My name is Ben Gow and I’m a student minister at Summer Hill Church. Now I haven’t been coming to this church for very long, so many of you might not know me that well. One of the things that I enjoy doing is hiking, and in late 2015 I went on a hike up a mountain in New Zealand called Mt Earnslaw. I was climbing it with two of my friends, and we were following the trail up the mountain. We were following the path which was covered in moss and beautiful New Zealand forest, but we found that it was getting harder and harder to follow the track. We came to the realisation that we were on the wrong path. So we decided to make our way down to the river below. The only problem was, to get to the river we had to scale across a cliff that was 30 metres high. So we’ve got our faces against the cliff, with a big pack on our backs, trying to inch our way down this cliff. The river was rushing below and there were massive boulders everywhere. I knew that if I slipped I would certainly die. And it was in that moment that I realised just how fragile I was. One quick slip, and that’s it. I’m dead. No more Ben Gow, that’s the end of his story. Well I managed to get down the cliff thankfully, but as we were following the river it became harder and harder to make our way up the mountain. So we climbed up the other side of the river and what did we find? The track! We were stoked that we found the track, and made our way up to the top of the mountain. When we got there, we were greeted with this: We had these grassy tussocks, waterfalls everywhere, and at the top we could see the glacier. We could hear the glacier creaking and rumbling with massive chunks of ice tumbling down the mountain. And I had this wonderful moment: God made this. God made this beautiful mountain, and I was blown away by his power and his majesty. I thought to myself, “why does God care about me? He made the mountaintops, the glaciers, he made the earth, the universe, he has billions of galaxies to look after. Why would a God like this care about something small and insignificant like me? My body is small and weak, and so fragile! I had just nearly died from a stupid decision to scale a cliff. And you think about the fact that this God, that made this universe, has made himself known personally in his word? Why?! Why does he care about our actions, our thoughts and words, why does he concern himself with our lowly affairs? Well, this question is the same question that David has in today’s passage. And the answer might not be what you’re thinking. So let’s dive in to see what God has to say in this passage. If you’ve got your Bibles there, go ahead and grab them. We’re in Psalm 8 today. Open it up to Psalm 8:1-4. The first thing we’ll see today is how God works in this world. Let’s have a look. Verse 1-4: 1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! 2Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You can imagine David here. He’s standing out in a field, gazing at the stars. He’s absolutely blown away by the 5000 or so stars he can see with the naked eye. He’s thinking about the fact that God, the God he knows and loves, has made this with his fingers. Just his fingers. And he has this moment. Why does God care about us? We are but lowly mortals, who are so fragile. He says that through the praise of children and infants - babies - through them he has made a stronghold against his enemies. What is David talking about here? Well he’s talking about the way that God works. God works through weakness. God works through weakness. All of God’s enemies have been silenced because even children and babies praise the one true God. As you know, babies are very weak and fragile. And, well, a bit useless! In and of themselves they don’t bring much to society. Except maybe cute photos. But they can’t work, or study, or help us all out in a global recession. Even though they are weak, they praise the one who is strong. God is saying that he doesn’t defeat his enemies in the way that we would think - through his power and might. He defeats and really shames them by using the weakest, the most vulnerable. That’s how powerful and mighty he is. God works through weakness. So David is staring up at the stars, and he’s feeling weak. He’s feeling small. But even though he’s feeling small he thinks about the role that God has given humans. Have a look with me at Psalm 8:5-8. 5You have made them [that’s humans] a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. 6You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: 7all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, 8the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. So we’ve seen that God works through weakness, but now we learn about the glorious role he gives humanity. God has made humans rulers over the whole world. Little humans like us, that are so weak and fragile - God has entrusted a WHOLE planet to!! What David is picking up here is some words from the book of Genesis. You can imagine, David is there in the field, gazing up at the stars. And he thinks back to his Bible classes that he would’ve gone to growing up - for you kids listening today, it would’ve been like Kid’s church. He thinks back to that time and remembers hearing about when God created the whole earth. Turn with me to Genesis 1:26. 26 'Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” ' 28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” God has given humans a massive job. He has commanded us to look after his planet. What a scary but amazing privilege! Us puny humans, trying to look after a whole planet! We humans can be very good at looking out for one another. Over the last few months we have seen extraordinary examples of bravery and selflessness as public servants and medical teams have laid their lives down to care for and save others. The only thing is, we don’t look after his planet very well. Science points us to believe that humans are affecting climate change and making this earth uninhabitable. We have created a 1.6 million square mile collection of rubbish in the pacific, called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. At least 1 million species face extinction because of humans. We just aren’t doing a great job. So why does God care about us, and why has he given us such a massive responsibility? The answer is in those verses we just read in Genesis. We are made in God’s image. That is, we are meant to resemble God. We can love one another, like how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit have been in an eternal loving relationship. We can make choices like he does, be in fellowship like he is, and when humanity was first created, they were perfect like God is. But we have failed. We all fail to rule God’s planet well, to love one another like he calls us to, to be in relationship with him like he invites us to. So we are left with a world that is hurting. The writer of Hebrews picks this up in chapter two. Have a look with me at Hebrews 2:6-8. 'But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. The world is not as it should be. We are not in control. How is this going to be solved? How will it all be restored? Keep reading with me. Hebrews 2:8-9. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. ' God decided to send his only son, Jesus. Jesus came to the world in weakness, a baby. He was fragile, small and vulnerable. He lived in this harsh world among us. He felt what we felt, he jumped, laughed and cried. He was tempted in every way like we are, but he never gave in. He always trusted in God and loved him the way God calls us to do. He went on to suffer death. This meant that instead of us being punished for the way we’ve treated God and his planet - trying to live our own way - Jesus tasted death in our place. He died so that we might receive his perfect life. His righteousness. And that’s the wonderful thing about the cross. Jesus died alone, afraid, what at the time seemed to be for no reason. But it’s in this moment, that God worked through weakness. The apostle Paul picks this up in 1 Corinthians 1. Have a look with me at 1 Corinthians 1:22-25: 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. And in verse 27, 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” Jesus died on the cross so that he could become for us our righteousness, holiness and redemption. The cross is the great exchange, where Jesus took our sin and shame, and we received his perfect life. Now, we can be reconciled to God, we can be reconciled to one another. So for those of us that trust Jesus, what do we do? Hebrews 2:11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. The writer is saying here that Jesus has brought us into his family, we can call him our brother and God our Heavenly Father. As you interact with your fellow Christians this week, see them as God sees them - image bearers and children of the invisible God. When God sees them he sees Jesus. Once we view each other that way, then we have even more reason to look out for one another, to care for each other, to forgive, to reconcile, to love. At great cost to himself, God has brought you into his family. Maybe there’s someone today that you can thank, forgive or care for. Let’s be image bearers of our Lord Jesus this week, living our lives like he lived his, and invites us to. So, why does God care about us? Because he wants to show his glory. He wants to show his power, and he wants us to bear his image. You see, God’s glory made visible through the glory he has given humanity, ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus didn’t stay dead, and it was through his weakness, suffering and death, that meant that he is now crowned with glory and honour. If you don’t yet trust Jesus, then know that God cares about you. He offers you true purpose and life. Following Jesus is what it means to be truly human - to rule the world as God has commissioned us, and to be in right relationship with the one who has made us in his image. If you’d like to know more about that, then email staff@summerhillchurch.org.au and one of us on staff will get in contact with you. We’d love to hear your story and what it could mean for you to put your trust in Jesus. But if you do trust Jesus today, then know that you are Jesus’ brother or sister. You can call God your Heavenly Father because of Jesus' suffering and death. Take a moment today to thank him and praise him like David did, saying: 9 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!