There Is No One Like Our God

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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!

Opening Prayer

Imagine This...

You’re sitting in a comfortable chair in the outdoors, far from the sounds and lights of a city.

Observing the stars, too numerous to count, the full moon catching the light from the sun, the quiet sounds of nature all around.

It’s peaceful, comfortable, glorious...

So beautiful, it almost seems like fantasy.

You’re meditating on Genesis 1 & 2.

God’s work and provision in creation.

And, God’s provision in deliverance/salvation.

It’s almost too glorious to behold.

And, you think of the magnificence of God...

And, you think of the lowliness of mankind.

Both informed by Scripture.

And, you have Psalm 8.

A psalm in which the psalmist is talking to God about God.

A Proper & Grand Understanding of God

First, we see the psalmist, David, use two names to describe God.

Yahweh – God’s name that He revealed to the Israelites as He brought them out of slavery from the Egyptians.

Exodus 6:7 (ESV)

7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.

God is our Deliverer and Redeemer.

And, God is such, by no obligation.

He is such out of mere graciousness/kindness/mercy/loving-kindness.

Yahweh is a God who condescends to His creatures and covenants faithfulness to them, on His part.

This name Yahweh is magnificent and strikes at the nature of God...

And it is excellent in all the earth.

His loving-kindness stretches so far that He makes the rain fall on the just and the unjust.

He upholds the universe by the power of His word.

And, maintains seasons, weather, the Sun and Moon for the structure and stability of the creation.

The name Yahweh speaks to His character as a Victor, Law-maker, Judge, and Ruler over His creation.

The next name that David addresses God with is Adonai.

Adonai - meaning sovereign God.

Not a passive sovereign, like Deism teaches (clock).

Not a God that is defined by the cultural context and society’s definition.

But a God who has revealed by His Word and in His providence...

That He is not only benevolent, patient, and gracious...

But also sovereign, and governs the universe with omnipotent power.

No one can stay His hand or say to Him what has He done.

No one has or can give Him counsel.

He is Yahweh, Adonai

The sovereign, gracious Ruler of the universe who is faithful and delivers His people from harm.

And, so the psalmist states...

The Incomprehensible Nature of God’s glory.

Psalm 8:1 (ESV)

1 O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

God is majestic in power.

The whole earth is filled with His glory.

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmaments His handi-work.

You cannot examine the world and not marvel at God.

And, to claim such a fallacy is to be foolish according to the Bible.

It is, in reality, to deny what you actually and truly perceive as reality.

God is the only God of all the earth.

He is not God according to what the current generation or society may design Him.

He is God as He has revealed Himself.

There is no God except the God of the Bible.

And, He must be understood and worshipped as He reveals and commands.

David goes on...

Psalm 8:1 (ESV)

1...You have set your glory above the heavens.

Here the psalmist sets the glory of God at a level infinitely higher than any other.

Because of the limitations of the creature, and the infinite nature of the perfections of God...

God’s glory cannot properly be comprehended, measured, nor explained.

But God gives glimpses of His magnitude. His grandeur.

Psalm 8:2 (ESV)

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

God is magnificently above all others in two ways:

First, We don’t trust in horses or chariots, we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

It is better to be in a War with an army of infants, if God is on your side...

Than to be teamed up with the greatest military forces and the greatest military technology without God on your side.

The flames did not touch Shadrach, Meshach, nor Abednego.

The Lions did not open their mouth against Daniel.

The veteran, man-slaying Goliath lost to a boy with a sling.

Why? Nature would designate these to go the other way.

Because God’s glory is above the heavens.

Secondly, God has chosen to use infants in wisdom and knowledge to make the wise look foolish.

1 Corinthians 1:27 (ESV)

27 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;

When the religious leaders scolded Jesus during the triumphant entry...

Matthew 21:16 (ESV)

16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them,

“Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”

It wasn’t the religious leaders who held a place of prominence among the people that got it right.

It was the babes of society...

Those who held themselves in low esteem who realized their need for God.

The lowly, by the power of God, make the self-appointed leaders become fools.

The psalmist recognizes this truth about God.

He is beyond our comprehension and can be compared to no one.

David has a proper perspective of self.

And, we see it in...

Psalm 8:3–4 (ESV)

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?

A Proper Understanding of God & a Proper Understanding of Self Invokes Worship

The loftiness and grandeur of God...

When viewed in light of the creature, man...

One properly asks such a question.

It invokes worship to think of the majesty of God...

And, in His majesty, He would care for such simplicity as mankind.

That He would condescend from such heights...

To engage at such levels with worms such as us.

And, not only that He would condescend...

But that He would elevate us.

Psalm 8:5–8 (ESV)

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.

We have been elevated to such a position...

As to have dominion over all the earth and the creatures within.

God has crowned us with glory and honor as image bearers.

The only earthly created beings that bear the image of God.

And, this teaches us that we are not equal with beasts, animals and such.

They do not, nor should they be treated as equals.

Nor given the same rights as mankind.

But, that we are stewards of God’s creation...

And, as such, should take care of God’s creation as He takes care of us.

Psalm 8 is taking into account the Creator and the created Image Bearer

God’s original design for mankind.

Our original intended purpose and design worked out in worship.

But, in Adam we have all fallen aside...

And like sheep have gone astray.

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

And, in the graciousness of Yahweh...

He has sent His Son to take upon the nature of the image-bearer...

And, be what Adam failed to be...

The perfect Son of God.

The obedient Son of God.

To do what Adam did not do.

To reverse the curse of what sin caused.

And, to redeem a people for the worship of God in spirit and in truth.

The way we were originally designed to worship God.

And, one day we will enjoy the fulness of it.

Take-Away

Psalm 8:9 (ESV)

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

The psalm closes the same way is opens.

Let’s close by thinking about the opposite of this observation...

What is man that God would concern Himself with us?

Knowing who God is, and that He does condescend & concern Himself with us, lowly sinful creatures...

How can we not be consumed with adoration of Him?

Closing Prayer