NOT JUST AN ORDINARY GOD
PSALM 8
David wrote this psalm to proclaim the majesty of God. When he looked around at all that God had created on the earth, in the sky, and even within man the main feeling of God that he had was “majesty”. This morning God desires for you to experience His majesty and in that experience come to realize how that knowledge can change you and your whole outlook on life. Our Majestic God has more for each of us than we are now experiencing and more than we can even imagine.
1. THE MAJESTIC CREATOR. (PS 8:1)
David begins his song with a strong statement. In the Hebrew it reads “O Yahweh, our Adonai”.
Yahweh- The self-existent Lord. God introduced Himself to Moses as “the Great I AM”. And He is the Creator and Lord of all creation and He existed before all things. There is never a time that He “was not” because He has always been. He has need of absolutely nothing because, before there was anything else but Him, He was still God.
Adonai- means “Lord and Master”. It is a more personal name for God and indicates His relationship with you. As Yahweh, He is the Lord of all things by His majesty and might, but as Adonai, He is your Lord and Master by your willing submission of yourself to Him in a covenant relationship.
Majesty- refers to a glorious display of kingly power.
Splendor- magnificent brilliance of beauty and color.
** I imagine him as a boy tending the sheep and laying on his back looking up at the stars and seeing God’s majesty and splendor in the heavens. I am fascinated by God’s handiwork in cosmic creation. The more I study astronomy, the more convinced in God that I am.
Horsehead Nebula- one of the most beautiful sites in the heavens. the result of a Supernova. It is the gases left over from the explosion. It takes light over 1500 yrs to get here, so you are seeing back in time.
Pillars of Creation- really cool. They are well over 7000 yrs old. It WAS beautiful. Why “was”? Because it ceased to exist thousands of years ago. Another supernova exploded and destroyed it. But, it takes light much less time to reach us than it takes for the shock wave to arrive to destroy it. We are seeing something that’s already destroyed.
The farthest nebula we have found is over 13 billion light years away. One light year is 6 trillion miles, so 6 trillion times 13 billion is how many miles away it is.
Why do I point this out? God is much bigger, grander, more majestic than we can even understand. Just the portion of His creation that we have seen boggles the imagination. And He has filled His creation with wonders that we are newly discovering every year. David looked into the night sky amazed at how big God is..... Imagine what David would say if he could have seen the heavens through today’s telescopes.
** David’s awe ought to be totally eclipsed by ours today. When Galileo turned his telescope on the sky and announced to the world that the earth was not the center of the universe, an outraged pope ordered him to deny his discovery. But it was no use: the secret was already out!
There was far more out there than man had ever dreamed. There were stars and planets. in bewildering number, of staggering dimensions, traveling at inconceivable speeds, reaching further and further into unimaginable depths, and all of it is a tribute to the majesty of God. And, in verse 3, David says it is the work of God’s finger!
2. THE ALL-POWERFUL LORD. (PS 8:2)
Here, David reflect on God as El Gibbor– “the Mighty God”. How powerful is the Lord God? He is omnipotent singular in power and might.
When I read vs 2, I see something special about God’s power.
David says God establishes strength from the mouths of “Infants and nursing babes”. In the poetic Hebrew language, strength and praise are from the same root words. So God is moving in strength in the praise of His children. And it doesn’t even have to be grown children.
Ps 22:3 tells us that “God inhabits the praise of His people”
Are you having a tough time right now?
Do you want God to move into your situation with power?
Then you need to get your praise own!
The other thing I see in vs 2 is that God is all powerful and really doesn’t need anything to accomplish His will.
Sometimes we might feel weak and powerless against the enemy.
Sometimes we fear that we will be defeated.
Let me share some verses for you to remember.
1 Jn 4:4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.
You may feel weak and powerless but you are not alone. There is a greater power in you that is greater than any enemy you will face.
* But not only that, when you are weak, God will actually show more strength.
2 Cor 12:7-10 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul found out that the secret to living a powerful, dynamic spiritual life is to get yourself out of the way. When you feel strong, you don’t depend on the Holy Spirit as much. When you feel weak, you lean on God more. The more you lean on the strength of the Lord, the more powerful a spiritual warrior you actually become. Do you want to be a spiritual warrior? Stop trusting in yourself and trust in the Lord!
* Why does God multiply His strength in our weakness?
1 Cor 1:27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,"
He does it to shame and humiliate our adversary, Satan.
God delights in taking the weak and doing something strong.
God is thrilled to take the ordinary and do the extraordinary.
And God does this to show His absolute power over the enemy!
You might feel weak and powerless today, but take heart! If God can defeat our adversaries with the praise of little children, imagine what He can do with the praise of a spirit-filled believer of Jesus Christ!
3. THE LOVING FATHER. (PS 8:3-8)
Read Ps 8:3-4 ** “What is man that You take thought of him?
David looked at the heavens and wondered how a God so big with a creation so vast could care about him or even know who he is.
** Why should your heart be filled with joy this morning?
Because the Creator of the Universe loves you and wants to have a personal relationship with you. Stuart Hamlin wrote this:
“How big is God? How big and wide His vast domain?
To try and tell, these lips can only start.
He’s big enough to rule this mighty universe;
Yet small enough, to live within my heart!”
* There are 2 ways you can feel after studying the vastness of the heavens. You can feel smaller and more insignificant. But I feel the opposite because “as great as is the universe, greater is our God still. And, I am a child of this Great God that He loves very much.”
Read Ps 8:5-8
Another reason for you to be encouraged this morning is that God not only knows you and loves you, but He also has a plan and a purpose for your life!
* God created you a frail and finite creature, but as His child He has destined you to glory and majesty.
* You might feel like an insignificant little child today, but God is saying to you right now “You might feel like a child, but you aren’t insignificant at all. You are a child of the King that I love very much! I have a plan for your life!
* You don’t like how things are going in your life today? Maybe It’s time for you to throw your plans out the window and get on board with the plans that I have for you!”
4. THE MAJESTIC GOD. (PS 8:9)
David closes this song the way he began it. “O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your Name”
Invitation:
If you ever feel small or insignificant, remember that you matter to God.
The Lord of all the Earth knows you! and He loves you very much.
And, when you are struggling in the dark night, He is there to light your way and protect you.
