O LORD, HOW MAJESTIC IS
YOUR NAME
Ps. 8:1-9
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A man was told by his doctor he only had 6 months to live. “What should I do, doctor?” he asked.
2. The doctor said, “Move to Arkansas and marry a younger woman with 8 kids.”
3. “Will that make me live longer?” “No, but it will be the longest 6 months of your life.”
B. VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28sqs5H5hao
C. TEXT
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! [ESV]
D. THESIS
1. Abraham Lincoln once said: “I never behold (the heavens filled with stars) that I do not feel I am looking in the face of God. I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how he could look up, into the heavens and say there is no God.”
2. Today we’re looking at the ways David observed in Psalm 8 that God displayed His Majesty in Creation.
3. The title of this morning’s message is “O Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
I. GOD’S MAJESTY DISPLAYED IN…
A. IN HIGHEST (3RD) HEAVEN, v. 1.
1. “You have set your glory above the heavens.”
2. There are 3 uses of the word “heaven” in Scripture:
a. “The rain fell from heaven,” (envelope of atmosphere),
b. “The stars in heaven,” (physical universe), and
c. “God’s throne in heaven,” (spiritual location, 3rd heaven). This last term is spoken of in verse 1.
3. On this earth, we only HEAR of God’s excellence, and praise Him, the angels near His throne actually SEE & EXPERIENCE His glory!
4. Ezekiel (1:28) and John the Revelator (4:3) both describe God as having a rainbow-like aura, waves of beauty emanating from His glorious Person!
5. Lightnings and tremendous thunders flash & crash from His throne. His perfect holiness humbles even the mightiest of the angels. The ‘seraphs,’ whose very name means “burning ones,” cover their faces before God.
B. IN BIOLOGICAL NATURE, v. 2.
1. HUMOR. Everyone needs recognition for his accomplishments, but few people make the need known quite as clearly as the little boy who said to his father: "Let's play darts. I'll throw and you say "Wonderful!'" Human praise. Do we ever overdo it?
2. How powerfully God proclaims His glory by the weakest of His creatures (v. 2), “Out of the mouth of babies and infants you have [perfected praise, KJV].”
3. SPECIFIED COMPLEXITY: DNA
a. A one-celled bacterium, E. coli, is estimated to contain the equivalent of 100 million pages of Encyclopaedia Britannica, (1012). This is more information than the total writings of the classic Greek civilization (109), and the holdings of the three largest libraries in the world (Oxford, New York, Moscow) have only 1013.
b. Today on Yahoo News was an article entitled, “Scientists say all the world’s data can fit on a DNA hard drive the size of a teaspoon,” Mike Murphy, 2-17-15.
c. Scientists have found a way to store data on DNA and retrieve it. DNA is so small that they can store all the world’s info, including movies, songs, photos on Instagram, etc., on DNA the size of a teaspoon. DVDs & Cd’s have a shelf-life of 25 years, but DNA at 00 can retain info for 1 million years!
C. IN DETERMINING THE FUTURE
1. The Lord Jesus quoted Ps. 8:2 as prophetic of Him when the children cried “Hosanna!” at His triumphal entry (Mt. 21:16). God “ordained” this.
2. God not only ‘foretells’ the future, He determines what it shall be. God is outside the bubble of time. He exists in all times simultaneously. He orders & directs all things.
3. “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” Isa. 46:10; 14:24.
4. We can’t tell where we’re coming from or where we’re going, but God knows all that the future holds for us.
II. GREAT BECAUSE OF BENEFITS TO MANKIND
“What is man that you are mindful of him?” v. 4.
A. SHOWS GRACE TOWARD US
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son”
1. WONDER: THAT GOD WOULD LOVE US, DECIDE TO SAVE US, AND LET US LIVE WITH HIM IN HEAVEN
a. It’s not a wonder that God would make man. But it’s a wonder God decided to redeem man. If I’d been God, when Adam & Eve disobeyed and fell into sin, and I looked ahead and saw all the misery in store for the human race, I would have just taken that opportunity to pull the plug on the human race and quit while I was ahead.
b. I John 3:1, “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us…”.
2. WONDER: THAT THE FATHER WOULD LET JESUS SUFFER SUCH EXTREMES.
a. The extreme of becoming human, weak, dependent, exposed to blood, sweat, tears, dangers…
b. Jesus had to experience all sin! He had to be immersed in filth; all the rapes, murders, sodomies, incests…
c. Allow Jesus to suffer/ tortured for us on the Cross.
3. WONDER: THAT GOD WOULD PUT HIS HOLY SPIRIT INSIDE US.
a. That’s getting too close for comfort! I like to be around people, but as evil as most people are in their hearts (Paul said that he “inwardly burned”) how could God subject the Holy Spirit to people who are often actively sinning?
b. Undoubtedly there was no other way; we had to have the Holy Spirit inside us to transform us from the inside out.
B. OUR CELESTIAL TIMEPIECE
1. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,” particularly the moon and the stars (v. 3).
2. God gave them to us to mark time, “for seasons, and for days and years” Gen. 1:14. They are our celestial clock. Their positions are predictable thousands of years into the future. What other timepiece can do that? When God does it, He does it big!
3. ILLUSTRATION
a. Johannes Kepler, the astronomer, constructed a mechanical model of the sun with the planets circling round it. One day a friend who was an atheist came by.
b. He exclaimed with delight, “How beautiful it is! Who made it?” Kepler carelessly answered, “No one made it. It made itself.” His friend looked at him and said, “Nonsense, tell me who made it.”
c. Kepler replied, “Friend, you say that this little toy could not make itself. It’s but a poor imitation of this great universe which, I understand, you believe made itself.”
4. If you would take the parts of a new car, and fly at the height of 10,000 feet, and dump them out, would they assemble themselves into a car before they hit the ground? No. Well, the evolutionist would say, “Well, you just don’t have enough time.” Ok, drop the parts from 100,000 feet; will they assembly themselves any better into a car? No!
5. Neither can unorganized, random chance ever account for the organized and complex universe. It’s the product of Intelligence. The watch is proof of the watch maker!
C. WISDOM, POWER, GOODNESS
1. Concepts of right & wrong can be found in the belief systems of all groups. Violations of inner moral law are followed by feelings of condemnation. God put them there.
2. “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law….They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness” Rom. 2:14-15.
3. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” Rom. 1:20.
D. PLACE OF HUMANS IN GOD’S PLANS
1. Despite the fact that mankind is sinful & weak, yet God has bestowed great benefits on us! (“is mindful of us”)
2. ILL.- An astronomer told a minister & his friend of stars from which light started one million years ago. Though light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second, that light is only now reaching the earth. “I feel pretty small tonight,” said his friend to the minister. But the minister’s reply was, “I don’t. I feel larger than ever.” Then he explained: “Because, great as is the universe, God is greater.”
3. SOME OF GOD’S BLESSINGS ON US:
a. Angel’s “Peers”- only a ‘little lower’ than (v. 5).
b. Dominion over inferior creatures: of land, air, & sea.
c. “Crowned him with glory and honor” – unlike the beasts that perish, we have an immortal soul/ spirit.
d. We’ll be resurrected and rule/ reign forever with Christ over His Kingdom!
III. THE GREATEST WONDERS OF GOD
“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: 3 Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; 4 Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies” Ps. 103:1-4.
A. WHAT IS THE POWER OF FORGIVENESS?
1. IT ALTERS A BAD FUTURE
a. Instead of going to hell, we’re going to heaven. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
b. All things work together for good. You’ve become Abraham’s seed and heirs of the Promise. All the promises of God are now yours!
c. Rejoice: your future is secure. When the mountains are dissolved and the earth has passed away, we’ll be kept by God’s power to enter eternity & the Heavenly City!
d. The palaces of crystal and of gold, that sparkle so much they’d dazzle mortal eyes, they’re yours! A crown, bright and glorious awaits you!
e. Though we’ve been the chiefest of sinners and the vilest of the vile, if God justifies us, all things are ours!
f. Oh! “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”
2. IT BRINGS PEACE
a. Paul said, “We have peace with God thru…Jesus.”
b. What wonderful satisfaction, tranquility, comes from knowing that all is right between you and your Creator.
c. When sins are gone you can enter God’s presence unafraid. You could face the Grim Reaper without fear. Praise God for forgiveness!
3. IT BRINGS JOY
a. Dr. Alexander Fletcher of 1800’s London told of seeing three or four preteen pick-pockets jumping up and down and dancing around.
b. He asked them, ‘My boys, why are you so excited?’ ‘Ah,’ they said, ‘if you had been locked up for three months, you would do the same when you got out of prison.’” That’s what forgiveness is like!
B. WONDER OF HEALING “Who heals all your diseases”
1. The Israelite’s very first experience after salvation and baptism (Ex. 15:22-27; 1 Cor. 10:2) was to know God as their HEALER (Exodus 15:26).
2. God called himself by a Compound Name – Jehovah Rapha. It’s translated in KJV as “I am the Lord that heals you.” Compound names represent God's character, the kind of God that He is.
3. Praise God, throughout the O.T. & N.T., God healed people. 19% of the Gospels involve Jesus healing. Jesus called healing “the children’s bread” (Mt 15:26).
4. Jesus healed everyone who came to Him. “Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, and forever!”
5. Don’t take God’s healing favor for granted, but claim the provision which Christ has purchased by atonement! (Isa. 53:3-5; Mt. 8:17).
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Rose Crawford had been blind for 50 years. Then she had an operation. When the doctor took the bandages from her eyes she said, “I just can’t believe it.”
2. She wept. For the 1st time in her life she actually see. And what she saw a dazzling and beautiful world of form and color.
3. The amazing thing about her story was that 20 years of her blindness was unnecessary. She didn’t know that surgical techniques had been developed and that an operation could have restored her vision at the age of 30.
4. Her doctor said, “She just figured there was nothing that could be done for her condition. Much of her life could have been different.”
5. The Bible tells us that without Jesus people live their lives in spiritual darkness. They've fail because they figure that nothing can be done to remove their shame and hopelessness. [Jeff Strite]
6. But Jesus said, “You don’t have to live like that…I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
B. THE CALL
1. Can we all stand and praise God as our Creator?
2. One of God’s greatest promises is forgiveness. How many of you would like to be forgiven of your sins this morning? “If we confess our sins He is faithful & just to forgive us…and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Let’s pray for forgiveness now.
3. How many need bodily healing today? Come to the front and we’re going to pray for God to bring healing to your body. Prayer.
[This message has influence from messages by Steve Shepherd and Jeff Strite on the same Psalm]
