Psalms for Psome – Ps 8

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 8 is a wonderful psalm, full of contrasts and comparisons. Throughout the psalm, David is in awe of the greatness of our God, of the creation he has provided, and the position God has placed man in .

First, lets read the passage and take your time. We should never rush the Psalms!

Psalm 8:1 – 9

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!

As you read through this passage, did you notice it sounded somewhat New Testamental? This psalm is quoted multiple times in the New Testament and the way that the New Testament authors used the Old Testament statements have always challenged my thinking. It is a worthy endeavor to seek to align our thinking with the Lord and His apostles. See end of the post for verses to consider.

With that challenge for you, let’s consider one verse out of this psalm. My wife and I settled on verse 4 to discuss as we read through the psalm. Given the littleness of man in relation to God’s majesty, what is it that man can claim that would draw the attention of the Creator God, the One who created the heavens and the earth.

If the stars and the moon, in David’s mind, caused wonder, imagine the expected multiplied impression as we moderns understand the expanse, not only of our own universe, but of the billions of universes that God flung into existence with the mere expression of a word. How insignificant in comparison to the created universes is lowly “man”, not to mention in comparison the the One who created all.

What is man? David informs us, through creation, that we are insignificant, and yet God is mindful of us. Mindful is the thought of remembering us, recalling our condition and existence, of calling to record.

God thinks on us. His concern and remembrance of a tiny part of His creation can not be based on our relation to the extent of the universe. The universe, and all universes were created at the pleasure of the Godhead, and man is the one who God has thoughts on.

Yet the psalm continues with speaking of the son of man. The Old Testament writers used Hebrew poetry, where they would repeat a thought in a second line, as opposed to our modern simply poetry of ending the line with a rhyme. David was linking “man” with “son of man’ in this next line. Yet we know that the New Testament author in Hebrews applies this passage to the Son of Man.

What is the Son of Man, that you (God) care for Him. That is a striking thought, if I am understanding the text. Of course, looking at it from one perspective, the Son of Man is the Father’s great love, a “caring” that is limitless.

From an opposing view, as He hung on the cross, and the Father looked away, the constant “care” of the Father was broken, ruptured from all of eternity. Darkness descended and relation was broken.

As believers, in the midst of darkness, we are to look to the Savior. Consider the contrasts the Psalm provides and how different He is from our base understanding. We are insignificant, and yet consider ourselves to be of utmost importance. He knows our frailty, weakness, and brokenness and yet thinks on us, loves us and gives all for us.

Truly a psalm that speaks of contrasts, of a love that is showered on insignificant man, and of a love that was severed for the Significant One.

Consider the blessing of knowing our God and give thanks.

He is majestic!

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Mat 21:16

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’?”

Hebrews 2:6-7

It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?

You made him for a little while lower than the angels;
you have crowned him with glory and honor,

1 Corinthians 15:27

For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him.

Ephesians 1:22

And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,

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