What a great Psalm of praise we have before us
today. In it we see God exalted through
a meditation on His works of creation, both those in the heavens and those on
earth. Consider a few notes but not
without reflecting on where we personally fit in this Psalm.
·
v1a, 9: The Psalm begins and ends with the same
refrain. Don’t overlook the two uses of
the term “Lord” … LORD (all caps) to
speak of the self-proclaimed name of the one true God (YAHWEH or Jehovah, the self-existent One) and Lord (Adonai, Master). God’s name is “excellent” or great in all the earth. This is the context of this Psalm, how great
God is on earth. Yet …
·
v1b: He has set His glory above the heavens, “as
if earth were too small a theater for it’s display” (JFB).
·
v2: Yet even on earth God’s glory is on display
in the way He uses the smallest and weakest of things to silence those who deny
His glory. Perhaps David is reminded of
how he, as a young man, was enables by God to kill the giant. The greatest Son of David referred to these
words as He rode into Jerusalem Me ssiah missed the point of that eventful day.
·
v3-8: Having established the premise, that the
greatness and excellence of the “LORD our Lord” wherever you look in the
universe, he now reflects on the place of man in the mind and heart of the
Creator.
·
v3: Who has not had this experience? You step outside on a dark, clear night and
see the magnificent display of stars visible to the naked eye. Or perhaps you magnify it with a
telescope. Maybe you have seen some of
those amazing pictures from the Hubble telescope of not only our galaxy but the
neighboring galaxies.
·
v4: If you “consider” (observe with some
thought) what you are seeing does it not make you feel somewhat small? You might wonder why God would give man a
thought (remember him, given all the great
things in creation that must occupy His attention) or even “visit” him (pay
attention, a more involved term of the two synonyms). Whether or not David understands this as
involving the incarnation, he is saying that his God has not gone off and
forgotten about what He made; He is a God closely
involved.
·
v5: Vs. 3-4 have parallel lines that are
synonymous; v6 has parallel lines that contrast. The point is that Man was made lower than the
angels (Elohim, mighty ones, used of God but also of angels and of mighty ones
on earth) in the sense of not being as powerful; and yet Man, not angels, are
crowned with glory and honor.
·
v6-8: Man is in the prominent position on earth,
being the only being created in God’s image and given dominion over the rest
(Gen. 1:27f). The point is emphasized by
the listing of the various living things.
This Psalm takes on great significance in the
New Testament, not only in the triumphal entry quoting of v2 but in the way
that it anticipates our Lord, Jesus Christ.
In Christ God’s greatest “visitation” of mankind took place. Zecharias used this term in referring to the
coming of Me ssiah (Luke 1:68) as did
Christ of His offering of Himself to Israel
But perhaps the greatest use of this Psalm in
the New Testament is in Heb. 2:5-9 where the writer seeks to make clear that
Jesus was not an angel who came to earth to do God’s will but was fully
human. In fact He is “Man” in the
fullest sense of Psalm 8:5. The first
Adam failed in the task of “dominion” because of his prideful sin. And since then mankind has struggled with the
God-given task. Man even seeks to exalt
himself by suppressing the truth
about the Creator (Rom. 1:18ff). But
Jesus became man, the lowest of men who are lower than the angels; He bore our
sins in His body on the tree. But His
humiliation is now being followed by His exaltation which will conclude when He
rules over all.
When we consider Creation AND Christ, truly we
must say, “Oh LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth.”
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