Majesty

Majesty

Psalm 8

Good morning.

The word Excellent in Psalm 8:1, in the Hebrew language means majestic, great, powerful, famous, glorious, noble, and worthy.

The NIV of Psalm 8:1 reads, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.” NIV

The word "majesty" in this context means "mightier than everything else" and describes awe and wonder. It shows how the Lord God is both mighty and good, strong and beautiful.

I believe the modern church has a good grasp on the fact that God is full of grace and mercy, but I believe we have lost some of the sense of His Majesty within our worship of Him.

As I was driving into the office the other day, Sandra and I were looking at Mount Shasta and I was thinking about a volcanic eruption and being prepared for potential disasters.

Thinking about potential disasters, we began to discuss how unprepared some Christians are to meet the Lord, face to face.

When we hear a bad storm is coming, we get out the flashlights and candles, maybe we even have some water containers filled just in case.

But most Christians live their lives as if the appearance of Christ, at best is a far-off event, or at worst, that Christ’s coming back is simply a fairy tale.

The Lord God is majestic above all powers and things, so He is worthy to be worshipped, with the way we daily, live our lives.

Please open your Bibles to Psalm 8 as we continue in our current series surveying through that book.

Last week we studied Psalm 2 about Rebellious nations.

King David was baffled at how these nations somehow believed they had any chance of succeeding against almighty God as he asked, “Why do the nations rage”.

Then we heard about the God Who laughs at His enemies.

God doesn’t laugh because He is cruel, nor does He want to see people fail. The Lord laughs because of how silly it is, for a part of His creation, to plan a rebellion against the creator God.

Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, and He will rule and reign over all the Earth during the Millennial Kingdom and His physical throne will be on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Finally, we heard “Kiss the Son”, as the Holy Spirit ended that Psalm with a warning and a blessing.

Psalm 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. NKJV

Today, in Psalm 8, we will hear about the majesty of the Lord and how David was in awe as he considered how big God is.

I. God’s glory is far above the Earth.

Read Psalm 8:1

In the Hebrew, this verse reads, “O LORD, Y?hovâ (Yahweh), our Lord, 'a?ôn (Adonai). LORD means the LORD God; the Creator God of the universe and the Lord means boss or master.

For us, the best way to describe what David was saying is to translate it as “Our God, (Yahweh), is our Master (Adonai).”

David says, how excellent or how majestic is Your name in all the Earth. The Lord God is not a localized deity.

Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. NKJV

Heaven, earth, and everything in them belong to the Lord God.

Majesty brings together both might and goodness, both strength and beauty.

Today, the word “awesome” is thrown around and has lost most of its meaning. Here, David was at a loss for words, as he tried to explain how awesome the Lord God truly is.

"Majesty" in this context means "mightier than everything else" and describes awe and wonder. "Majesty" shows how the Lord God is both awesome in power and good, strong and beautiful.

In 1977, pastor Jack Hayford and his wife visited England during the twenty-fifth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.

They noticed the fanfare, celebration, and joy of the people for their queen. Pastor Jack visited many of England's historic sites.

After driving away from the palace, Pastor Jack was overcome with awe and found himself at a loss for words.

As he tried to come up with a word to describe all that they had seen, the word that seemed to describe the palace and how it pointed to the superiority of Christ, was majesty.

According to one newspaper, “As the Hayfords drove away from the palace, Dr. Hayford asked his wife to write down some thoughts that were coming to him.

He then began to dictate the lyrics, the key, and the timing of a song now sung by Christians worldwide, “Majesty”.