Introduction:
There’s a feeling I believe we have all known at some point. Perhaps it hits you on a clear, moonless night, far from the city lights of Metro Manila, when you can truly see the Milky Way splashed across the sky like a river of diamonds. You stare up into that endless, silent black, dotted with innumerable points of light, some of which are not stars but entire galaxies, each containing billions of their own stars. And in that moment, a profound sense of your own smallness washes over you. You are one person, on one planet, orbiting one star, in one galaxy among billions. It’s a feeling that can be both beautiful and terrifying. It’s the ache of insignificance.
This feeling isn’t new to our generation of space telescopes and cosmic measurements. Thousands of years ago, a shepherd-king named David lay under that same sky and felt that same ache. He looked up at the "work of God's fingers," and it drove him to his knees with a question that has echoed through the corridors of time, a question that sits at the very core of the human experience: In the face of all this grandeur… who am I?
This morning, we turn to Psalm 8, David’s magnificent poem, which not only asks this question but provides God’s stunning, world-altering answer. In an age that tells you that you are a cosmic accident, a collection of molecules, a product of blind chance, the Word of God sings a different song. It is a song of majesty, and it is a song about your incredible, God-given dignity.
I. The Frame of Praise: A Name Above All Names (vv. 1-2, 9)
Notice how David begins and ends his psalm. It is framed with a chorus of praise: "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" This isn't just repetition; it's the foundation upon which everything else is built. Before he asks about man, he first establishes the greatness of God.
In the original Hebrew, this opening phrase is even richer. It reads, "O Yahweh our Adonai." Yahweh is God's personal, covenant name – the "I AM THAT I AM," the God who is personal and relational. Adonai means Lord, Master, the sovereign ruler of all. So David is saying, "O You who are intimately close to me, You are also the Sovereign Master of everything!" This excellent name, this character, this reputation, isn't just whispered in the holy of holies; its excellence is declared "in all the earth!"
And how does God choose to display this strength and silence His enemies? Through the most unlikely of sources: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength." Think of the beautiful absurdity of this. The proud, the arrogant, the "enemy and the avenger" who stand with their fists clenched at heaven, are silenced not by legions of angels or cataclysmic power, but by the simple, trusting praise of a child. Jesus himself quoted this verse when the chief priests and scribes were indignant at children praising him in the temple (Matthew 21:16). It teaches us a foundational truth: To understand our place in the universe, we must begin not with cynical pride, but with childlike wonder and humble faith. The key to understanding ourselves is found first in worshipping Him.
II. The Cosmic Question: Considering the Heavens (vv. 3-4)
With this frame of worship in place, David now lifts his eyes. "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained..." There is a beautiful intimacy in that phrase, "the work of thy fingers." The universe wasn’t a cosmic explosion God simply watched from a distance. The Bible presents it as a work of divine artistry. He didn’t just speak it into being with a detached command; He fashioned it with the care of a sculptor. The Horsehead Nebula, the rings of Saturn, the precise tilt of the Earth that gives us our seasons—these are the fingerprints of God.
And it is this consideration that leads directly to the crisis point of the psalm, the question that makes us hold our breath: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Let's be honest. Don’t you sometimes feel this? "God, you have galaxies to run. You have angels who sing your praise perfectly. You have cosmic affairs to attend to. Why would you be mindful of me? Why would you visit me in my smallness, my weakness, my sin?" The word "visit" here in Hebrew (pakad) is so powerful. It means to attend to, to care for, to intervene. David is asking, "In this impossibly vast universe, why would you, the infinite God, pay a personal visit to finite, fragile me?" It is the most honest question a human heart can ask.
III. The Astonishing Answer: Crowned with Glory (vv. 5-8)
If the question is breathtaking, the answer is heart-stopping. The world says you are nothing. God says you are everything to Him. Look at the divine response in verse 5: "For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour."
The phrase "a little lower than the angels" in Hebrew is me'at min 'Elohim. Elohim is the standard word for God, or sometimes for heavenly beings. The point is this: Humanity was created in a position of incredible status. We are not just another species. We are set apart, placed in a unique position in the created order.
And then comes the coronation: God has "crowned him with glory and honour." This isn't just poetic language. This is a direct reference to the Imago Dei—the Image of God. You, my friend, are created in the image of God. That is the source of your glory and honor. It means you have the capacity for love, for reason, for creativity, for justice, for relationship. It is the very foundation of human dignity. It is why every life has immeasurable value, from the child in the womb to the elderly person in their final days. You are royalty, crowned by the King of Kings.
This crown comes with a responsibility, a royal vocation: "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." This isn't a license for tyranny. It's a call to stewardship. Adam was placed in the Garden to "work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). We are God's viceroys, His managers on earth. The way we treat this planet, the way we care for animals, the way we manage resources—it all reflects on how we view our crowned position. We are to rule creation with the same love, care, and wisdom that our King rules over us.
IV. The Ultimate Answer: The Son of Man, Jesus Christ
Now, as we read this, a sad reality sets in. We have failed. We have failed in our dominion, polluting the earth and abusing its creatures. We have marred the image of God in ourselves through sin, trading our crown of glory for a crown of thorns of our own making. This beautiful psalm seems like a dream of what could have been.
But God, in His infinite mercy, did not leave it there. This psalm is not just about you and me; it is ultimately a prophecy about the perfect Man, the true Son of Man, Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews, chapter 2, takes this psalm and shines the spotlight of fulfillment directly on Jesus. The author quotes Psalm 8 and then says, "But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."
Do you see it? Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of Psalm 8. He is the true Man who exercised perfect dominion. He is the one in whom the image of God is perfectly displayed. He humbled Himself, becoming "a little lower than the angels" in his incarnation, to visit us not just in our smallness, but in our sinfulness. He went to the cross, and by tasting death for us, He won back the crown that we had lost. And now, risen and ascended, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. He is truly crowned with glory and honor.
And the glorious news of the gospel is this: when you are united to Him by faith, His story becomes your story. His victory becomes your victory. In Christ, your dignity is restored. In Christ, your purpose is renewed.
Conclusion: Living the Crowned Life
So, we come back to the question: "What is man?" You are not a cosmic accident. You are a divine project. You are a fallen royal, offered a path to restoration. You are the object of God’s mindful attention and His personal visit, most fully realized in the person of Jesus Christ.
How do we live this out when we leave this place?
1. Embrace Your Identity. When the world, or your own heart, tells you that you are worthless or insignificant, you fight back with the truth of Psalm 8. Say to yourself, "I am crowned with glory and honor by my Creator. I am made in His image. I am so valuable that Jesus Christ died for me." Let this truth define you more than your job title, your bank account, or your social status.
2. Practice Good Stewardship. See your life and your resources as a sacred trust from God. Care for your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Care for the corner of the world He has given you—your family, your home, your workplace, your community, and the environment. Live as a wise and benevolent manager, not a selfish consumer.
3. Fix Your Eyes on Jesus. The author of Hebrews says, "we see Jesus." That is the key. To understand your own glory and honor, you must first behold His. Spend time in His word. Spend time in prayer. Worship Him with a childlike faith. The more you see Him, the more you will understand who you were made to be.
"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" It is a name that reveals a God of majestic power, but also a God of intimate, mindful, visiting love. A God who saw fit to crown you with glory and honor. May you go forth this week, living not under the weight of your insignificance, but in the freedom and purpose of your God-given crown.
Closing Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for this profound truth. We confess that we often forget who we are because we forget who You are. Forgive us for marring Your image in us and for failing in our stewardship. Thank you for sending Jesus, the perfect Man, to restore us. Help us to live crowned lives, reflecting Your glory and honor in all we do. In the excellent name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
