Psalm 8 - Man's Place in the Majesty of God

Introduction

Contextual: Psalms

Today we are in our second week of our Psalms Series. The Psalms are collection of poetry and songs that were written by the people of God in the Old Testament days. Like modern songs, the Psalms explore the full range of human emotion & experience. Unlike modern songs, the ancient Psalms of the Bible are theocentric, they revolve around the God of Covenant, the God of the Bible. The Psalms teach us how to lay down every thought and every desire and every emotion at the feet of God, in order that those emotions and motivations might be properly applied. The Goal of reading the Psalms is not simply didactic. It’s not just about knowing what the Psalmist said. That would be to only interact with the Psalm in your head. But the Psalms are experiential. The idea is to embrace the Psalm and reflect on the Psalm, and pray the Psalm in such a way that the Psalmist’s words become your own words.

Contextual: Psalm 8

Today, we encounter Psalm 8. I cannot stress how beautiful this Psalm is. All week I have struggled to put to words what I want to say about this Psalm. At the heart of it is the discovery of man’s place underneath of majesty of God. This Psalm is designed to help you see and interpret reality. It is supposed to form a wonder in you that leaves you breathless, and worshipful. If you understand this Psalm and internalize this Psalm, and learn to joyfully pray this Psalm, you will be protected against any number of hardships of the heart throughout your life. The title of this sermon is Man’s Place Under the Majesty of God.

Psalm 8 “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!”

This Psalm reveals man’s place under the authority of God. And it so with three main ideas.

Idea 1: We Must Be Awakened to the Majesty of God

We read in verses 1-2:

Psalm 8:1-3 “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,”

“Oh Lord” — This is Personal

The Psalm opens wiht the covenant name of God that was given to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai, Yhwh Adonia. This is a personal name of God that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. This is so important. This Psalm begins personally. This is not an abstract discussion about what a distant God is like. This is not a philosophical lesson on the necessity of God. This is Holy Love Song to a personal God that is known, that is cherished.

How Majestic Is Your Name

"How majestic is your name”. That word is a bit of a royal word. It’s a word that attempts to ascribes excellence to God. Splendor. Glory. Majesty. In other words Psalmist opens this Psalm by elevating us to think rightly about God. “His glory is over the heavens.” The heavens there is a reference to the stars in the sky, a theme which he picks up again in verse 3 when he says, “When I look at hte heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place.” Likely this Psalm was written by David as he walked underneath a starry night sky, looking up at the artistry of God. The God who spun a billion billion galaxies into existence. He’s looking up at it all and he’s saying, “As a human, I can’t help but be overwhelmed at the greatness and the majest of my God. He’s over it all.”

Our galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy is a relatively small galaxy with 400 billion stars. God knows every grain of sand on the furthest of the furthest planet of the furthest sun of this galaxy.

Our galaxy is only one of possibly 2 trillion galaxies. God knows and governs how the wind is blowing right in the deepest corner of the most remote planet of a star that no human will ever see.

At the deepest levels of our own ocean floors lie creatures that have never been discovered by any human, and likely will never be discovered. And each of those creatures floats across the sandy darkness invisibly proclaiming God’s glory.

He is supremely in charge. How Majestic Is Your Name.

Illustration: See Something in Nature

Have you been overwhelmed by something that is far beyond you? I heard someone once say, “Make sure that every day of your life, you pause and slow down, and find something in nature. Take thirty seconds to look at the intricate details of it. As Christians we must train our hearts to consantly be amazed at the glory and the creativity and the majesty and the artistry of the God.” When I practice this habit, I tend to walk more slowly. One learns to listen to the sound of bird’s calls and smile at God’s creativity. One learns to discover an army of ants marching in unison up a tree trunk and wonder at God’s order. How Majestic Is Your Name.

Mouths of Babies

Verse 2, I struggled to understand what this was saying. But it is so poignant. He says,

Psalm 8:2 “2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.”

Jesus actually quoted from this verse in Matthew 21 when he cleared away the money changers from the temple courts and children began singing his praises to the dismay of the religous leaders. What this verse communicates is that any force, whether it be a so called religious leader, or a demonic power, or a government, that ridiculoulsy attempts to stand against God’s might and majesty, will be put to shame by something as simple and beautiful as the voice of singing children. God is so full of authority, so far above every other claim of power, so much greater than every president and every King and every leader, and every demonic force. He is so grand, that he can and does use the whisper of a child to defeat His greatest enemy. At the whimper of an infant he can crush rebellions. How Majestic Is Your Name.

Illustration: John Piper Quote

John Piper says the challenge before us so well:

“If you don't see the greatness of God then all the things that money can buy become very exciting. If you can't see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.” — John Piper

Everyone in this room will find something or someone in their life to worship. Will look for glory and majest somewhere. Look up to God on His terms. Permit your heart to be overwhelmed by the reality of His majesty. We Must Be Awakened to the Majesty of God.

Idea 2: We Must Be Honest About the Lowliness of Man

Insight 2: We must be honest about the lowliness of man. The very next phrase in this Psalm is this:

Psalm 8:3-4 “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, as he walks underneath the starry night sky and considers the incredible reality of the greatness of God, he suddenly realizes his own lowliness. And for one brief moment, just one verse, he is very honest about the lowliness of humanity. “What is man that you are mindful of him.” As you permit your heart to truly learn to be in awe of who God is, you will find yourself regularly brought to profoundly new awarenesses of your own mortality, your own frailty, your own lowliness.

The Lowliness of Humanity

When I use the term, “the lowliness of humanity,” what do I mean? I would like to consider it in three different ways to paint a picture of what I think is going through David’s heart and what we need to feel to understand this Psalm.

Our Creatureliness

First, we must recognize our creatureliness. What I mean by that is that there is only creator, and every other living thing is a creature, we’re created, we’re molded. The Bible says,

Genesis 2:7 “7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

As creatures, we are molded by God. We are assigned a birth date and death date by God. We are assigned a body and a brain and certain frailties by God. The New Testament says that we are the clay, and He is the Potter. Part of understanding humanity is permitting oneself to be clay in the potter’s hands.

Our Dependence

Second, there is an inward reflection of our dependence. As clay, we are not in control of our own lives. We like to deceive ourselves with false ideologies that say that, “we are the masters of our own destinies.” But this is a deception. Our destinies are not in our hands, they are in God’s hands. Time itself is in God’s hands. I like to say that if it were not for the sustaining grace of God in my life, I would not be able to fall asleep tonight with faith in Jesus. I’m not that strong. I’m dependent on God.

Our Sinfulness

Thirdly our lowliness encompasses our sinfulness. Not only are we creatures, we creatures in rebellion to God. Jesus teaches us that to break even one of the tiniest commandments of God’s entire law is to be guilty underneath the entire weight of the law? While we make light of our own sin, while we often think of ourselves as not all that bad. The Bible teaches us another story. It says that our natural condition before Jesus saved us is that we were enemies of God because of our sin. It says that our sinful condition of pride, of ego, of lust, one oneupsmanship, of idolatry was in fact a declaration that our father was Satan Himself (John 8:44). This is why prayer filled confession is so vital. We deceive ourselves constantly, and we like to think that our condition isn’t all that bad. But that is in fact the most dangerous sin of all, because a failure to see your own sin in all of its filth is the heart of pride.

Illustration: Manasseh

Perhaps you recall the story of King Manasseh in the Old Testament. King Manasseh grew proud with the golden crown on his head. In his prosperity, his heart and mind began to grew independent of God. He saw himself as an independent strong man. In God’s mercy, God brought tremendous judgment on Manasseh. He eventually found his military defeated and himself enslaved.

2 Chronicles 33:11-12 “11 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.”

And there as he was tied to an iron rod he finally understood his own lowliness. And he humbled himself. To which do you think Manasseh at the end of his days was more grateful? For golden crown, or his iron chains? I suppose it was the iron chains for in them he was finally brought to the realization of his own lowliness and need of God. Friends—learn your own lowliness before God uses discipline to teach it to you.

The Great Chasm

This Psalm invites to consider reality and the great chasm that exists between us and God. The great, perfect, all knowing, sovereign, creator God, and the utterly dependent, totally sinful, creatures that are humanity. What could possibly bridge the great chasm between a holy God and a sinful man like me?

Idea 3: We Must Be Astounded at the Significance of Man in God’s Plan

Lastly, the third idea, and the heart of this Psalm. We must be astounded at the significance of Man in God’s Plan.

Psalm 8:5-8 “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.”

A Little Lower Than the Angels

Despite our lowliness, in the order of creation, we are just a little lower than the angels. In terms of priority, God has marked us and called us to something beyond simply what we can see with our eyes. When we imagine angels, we see them performing their holy functions. Some angels are before the throne room of God. Others are messengers sent to commmunicate. Others are warriors sent to protect and to fight on our behalf. ITo consider the role of angels is bask in the reality that such a creature exists, one who is so near and uniquely created to serve God. David says, “That same level of wonder is what we should think about humans.” We are uniquely set apart and ordained by a Holy God for Kingdom purposes. Who are we that we should be given responsibilities like these?

We Have Dominion

Verse 6 says, “We have been given dominion and authority.” That language goes all the way back to the creation of man and woman and God’s design for them.

Genesis 1:28 “28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “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.””

God has granted man the responsibility to create and to cultivate. While secular culture around us says that humans are nothing more than overgrown apes, some cosmic accident. The Bible teaches that humans have divine responsibility on this planet, assigned to us by God. We are to take the world around us and cultivate it. We are to bring beauty to it. We are to take care of this precious world that God has gifted us. We are to bring children into the world, and tenderly care for their minds, and their hearts. Raise them to know and love God. We are to build civilization. We are to excercise our dominion over every other animal by brining order into chaos. This is what theologians call the Dominion Mandate.

The Gospel

But there is something more. This Psalm points beyond itself to an even deeper truth about the special place of humanity in all of God’s creation. Hebrews 2:9 takes the words of this Psalm and provide a startling reality.

Hebrews 2:9 “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.”

Here is the weight of Psalm 8. That Holy God. That God that is full of majesty and governs a trillion galaxies, entered into the universe he created as a man. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, the second person of the Trinitarian God in a human body. If you can imagine once again that great distance between the lowliness of man and the majesty of God. Rather than giving a method for how man can climb his way through that distance. That Holy God came down to us. He entered into the womb of Mary as a fetus. Majesty was born and laid in a manger. Philippians 2 says:

Philippians 2:6-8 “6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

For just a moment permit yourself to be overwhelmed by the good news of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We were “dead in our sin” (Ephesians 2:1). But “God showed His love for us in that we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Majesty crucified. And then, Majesty resurrected. When you believe that Jesus is Lord, God looks down at you and declares your debt to God as paid in full. Because of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, and the free gift of grace upone grace, He then looks at sinners like us and declares adopted children in His family, never to be forsaken, eternally secured, and sealed with His promised Holy Spirit.

Application & Cultural Analysis

I want to help you apply this Psalm by considering how we often fail to live into its fullness. So many of the problems we face as individuals would be healed if we learned how to internalize the truth of Psalm 8, how to believe it. If you define yourself daily as one who is loved by an eternal, majestic, and immovable God, it makes you quite a secure person. After all, if you know you are loved that deeply, what could possibly take place in your life, that you wouldn’t the firm foundation of Christ crucified on your behalf to fall back on.

An Identity of Insecurity

The reality though is that even among Christians, the great hallmark of modern culture is an identity of insecurity. Where does “insecurity” come from? Well, if you regularly find your sense of who you are, and what your value is, based on looking to things and people in this world, you’ll always be insecure.

Illustration: Rock Climbing

Last week I took my little girls to a rock climbing birthday party. It was a blast. But it took them a while to get the confidence to climb to the top of these walls. Because they hadn’t yet learn to fully trust the harness they were in. They would start to climb and get about ten feet off the ground, and then say, “I can’t go any further.” And I’d yell, “Yes you can, if you fall the harness will catch you.” But they were paralyzed at first. And then eventually they realized they had nothing to lose because something above, this harness that was bolted up top, was immovable and was going to catch them. As soon as they learned this, the whole park became their playground.

Two Things Will Be True

Do you see what I’m trying to say? If you’re sense of self is built on who you are in comparison to others are, two things will always be true of you. First, you’ll always be wildly insecure. Because the haunting feeling that the person next to you is better than you, smarter than, prettier than you, stronger than you, holier than you will always be in the back of your mind. Secondly, you’ll be wildly judgmental because, you’ll constantly be ranking everybody around you in light of your own strengths. Everybody becomes an object that either makes you look better or makes you look worse, rather than a person who needs to be loved.

The Gospel The Gospel The Gospel

But if you learn and train yourself to always look up at the immovable anchor that is bolted down and is securing you, then you begin to define yourself not by what others think about, or might think about, but what God says about you. And if you’re faith is in Jesus, God says “He loves you. Your sins are forgiven. Your soul is eternally secured. That Christ has prepared a place in heaven for you. And he has assigned a role in His mission here on this Earth.” May you learn to live as one eternally secured by Jesus. “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.”