Islington Baptist Church
September 22, 2002
Psalm 8
Scriptures: Hebrews 2, Matt. 21, Gen 1-2
Why God is so great
Last week we finished our series in the book of I Thessalonians—which has as its big theme: the return of Jesus Christ.
Today we are going back to the O.T to begin a brand new series in the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is one of the most loved and most referred to book, of all the books of the Bible. It is a book that we readily identify with. Through the centuries the church has used the Psalms as a worship song book.
In the next 10 weeks or so, we are going to do a survey of the Psalms, for there are many different kinds of Psalms: For example: some Psalms are laments, others are Psalms of thanksgiving, others are Psalms of repentance, yet others are Psalms of praise and worship, etc.
Today we are going to begin our series by looking at a praise and worship Psalm. There are many Psalms that have the praise and worship of God as their central theme. The one for us today is Psalm 8.
Before we turn to Psalm 8 and read it, I would like to make a few brief comments on the subject of the praise and worship of God.
Sometimes you and I will bump into a person who asks “Why does God want us to the praise him all the time, does that not make him proud and self centred”
Such a question fails to take into account the worthiness of God to receive our praises. In Revelations 4:11 it says “You are worthy our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Psalm 8 concerns the worthiness of God to receive our praise.
Such a question shows a failure to comprehend that our enjoyment of God is vitally bound up in our glorifying him. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him. In David Watson’s book “I believe in the Church” he says “There is no relationship so satisfying and enriching as our personal relationship with God; and it is only when we open our hearts to him in loving adoration that God, in turn, pours his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”
Such a question shows that the person has, according to C.S Lewis, forgotten that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise. Listen to what C.S Lewis says “The world rings with praise—lovers praising each other, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, praise of weather, wines, dishes, etc….. Just as men spontaneously praise whatever they value, so they spontaneously urge us to join them in praising it.
In today’s praise Psalm that we will shortly consider, David praises God, but not only that, he by his words of praise invites us to join in with him.
READ PSALM 8
As you can see Psalm 8 is bracketed at either ends by the same assertion “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.”
The assertion of our text is that our God is an awesome God. Our God is an amazing, wonderful, beautiful, awe inspiring God.
When David says “how majestic is your name in all the earth” we need to understand that for David to speak of God’s majestic name this means that David personally knows and experiences God, a relationship between him and God exist.
Why does David proclaim the majesty of our God? The center part of Psalm 8 makes it clear why God is so wonderful, amazing, majestic, and excellent and hence praiseworthy.
I. What is it that makes our God so wonderful, amazing, and awesome and hence praiseworthy? The fact that his glory and power is manifest in all places and in all corners of the created order. V.1b
In Psalm 19:1-4 it says “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. They voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
In further contemplating God’s manifest glory I would like to read to you from Charles Spurgeon’s commentary on the Psalms. Spurgeon writes “The whole creation is full of His glory and radiant with the excellence of his power. His goodness and wisdom are manifested on every hand. The countless myriads of earthly beings, from man to the creeping worm, are all supported and nourished by Him. The fabric of the universe leans on His eternal arm. Universally He is present; everywhere His name is excellent. Travel the silent valleys where rocks enclose you on either side, rising like heaven’s battlements until you can see but a strip of blue sky. You may be the only traveler who has passed through that glen; the birds are frightened, and the moss may tremble beneath the first step of a human foot. Yet God is there in a thousand wonders, upholding the rocky barriers, filling the flowers with perfume, and refreshing the lonely pines with His breath. Descend to the lowest depths of the ocean where the water sleeps undisturbed and the sand is motionless in unbroken quiet. The glory of the Lord is there, revealing its excellence in the silent palace of the sea. Borrow the wings of the morning and fly to the farthest parts of the sea. God is there. Fly to the highest heaven, and God is praised in everlasting song. His brightness shines in the sky. His glory exceeds the glory of the starry heavens and above the region of the stars He has set His everlasting throne; there He dwells in ineffable light. O come let us adore Him.
II. What is that makes our God so wonderful, awesome, and amazing and hence praiseworthy? His methods in dealing with His enemies. V.2
To accomplish his victories and to triumph over the schemes of the Devil, God at times uses the most foolish, simplest, and weakest of instruments—which in turn by his use of these things demonstrates his unassailable and mighty power. Consider for a moment how Gideon triumphed over the great sea of soldiers that were set against him and his people. He along with 300 men took trumpets and clay pots and at the arranged signal they blew their trumpets and smashed their pots and what was it that happened. “The Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords”
Verse 2 of our text is a most amazing verse. “Out of the mouths children and infants you have ordained praises, because of your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the avenger.”
What is there, that is weaker than a small child and a nursing infant? Yet in the hands of God little ones can be used and have been used to triumph over God’s enemies and to defeat Satan.
In Matt. 21:14-17 God uses children to silence His enemies, the enemies of Jesus Christ. “The blind and the lame came to Jesus at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,’ they were indignant. Do you hear what these children are saying they asked Jesus. Yes replied Jesus, Have you never read, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’? And he left them and went of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.”
God is worthy of our praises because of his methods in dealing with His enemies!
III. What is it that makes our God so wonderful, amazing and awesome--- and hence praiseworthy: How about the beauty, complexity, and vastness of the created order.v.3
The theory of evolution is a pitiable and pathetic answer for how our world got here and how we came to be.
There is only one reasonable conclusion for how this universe and how we came to be: God made it and us by his power and his wisdom. The complexity and design of all things points without reservation to an intelligent and powerful designer: that designer is God.
When I look out the window and see all the different kinds of flowers and trees and grasses and bugs, and birds, the variety in weather, the sun. It leads me to praise God who made all those things. Whenever I go to the zoo or an aquarium or a museum, and I see all the amazing creatures God has made, it leads me to the praise of God. When I contemplate the complexity of the human body and all its systems and how they work perfectly together, it leads me to the praise of God. When I think of how our earth is tilted at just the perfect angle and how it hangs in space at just the perfect distance from the sun, it leads me to the praise of God.
The beauty and the complexity of the created order ought to lead us into the praise and worship of God.
IV. What is it that makes our God so wonderful, amazing, and awesome--- and hence praiseworthy? Our composition as human beings. In particular, our being created in the image of God. v.5.
In v.3 of our text a wonderful picture is drawn for us. The picture drawn is this: There’s David on hill out in the countryside, lying on the ground looking up into the nights sky. It’s a cloudless night. Pollution and man made light does not obstruct his view either. What is it that David beholds. The beauty of the heavens that God has created. What does he see? Countless stars and the spinning galaxies of beyond.
What a reason for the praise of God indeed! But note this: as David takes it all in, what does he realize. He realizes how small the earth that he lies upon is. He realizes that he is but a speck upon this tiny earth in this incredibly vast universe that God has made.
And so David asks a very natural question: What is man (note the term used here for man denotes man’s insignificance and frailty) that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? In other words David asks “Why God do you care about me? Why do you care about me, little old me who lives on a world that is but a speck of dust in this incredibly vast universe that you have made?”
There is something very important here that we must note: David does not ask “God, do you care about me?” No, He knows that God cares about Him, and acts on his behalf. The question is “Why do you care about me God?”
The reason God cares for us who live on this tiny world in this vast universe is because we, the sons of Adam- the first man, have been made in the image of God. v.5. This composition of ours, in particular our being made in His image, makes God pretty awesome.
In Genesis 1:26-27 it says “Then God/Elohim said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; let them them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the bords of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So Elohim/God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
What does it means for us to bear his image:. i.e: dominion, creativity, even the worst of us at times reflects his character, etc.
It’s unfortunate but our English Bible’s do not properly catch the point that our text is making regarding our bearing God’s image.
In verse 5 of our text it says in the NKJV it says “For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.”
Unfortunately our English translation of v.5 does not do proper justice to the text. Where our text says “angels” the Hebrew text actually says “God” or if you prefer an English transliteration of the word: the term used is Elohim.
Elohim: being a name for God occurs 2602 times in the O.T.
From an O.T perspective this is no justifiable reason for a reading of our text that says angels.
Anways, as ones being made in and bearing the image of God, we are of incredible worth and value to God.
In our world today, with it’s evolutionary beliefs, what basis for valuing people is there? According to evolutionary theory--- none. The strong will survive, the weak are expendable. That’s what evolution teaches; and at the end of the day what are you? nothing more than the result of a genetic accident in this laboratory called Earth. That’s the lie Satan would have people believe.
That’s not what God teaches though. This is not what Psalm 8 teaches. That’s not what Genesis 1-2 teaches.
The scriptures teach that we, us human beings are the pinnacle of God’s creating work. He made this world and that sun and the stars at night all for us and our benefit.
As ones who bear his image He is worthy of our praise. We owe our creator respect and praise and honor.
Jesus illustrates this to us in Matthew 22:15-22. In this passage the Pharisees are trying to trick him on the issue of paying taxes. In v.18 it says “But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarious, and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.
As the coin bore Caesar’s image and belonged to him for his use, so too we who bear God’s image, and who by the way were created to reflect His glory, belong to God for His holy use—use we need to surrender ourselves fully to.
V. What is that makes God so wonderful, amazing, and awesome--- and hence praiseworthy: The fact that He’s delegated to us authority to excerise dominion over this earth. --- This incredible delegation of God’s authority to us warrants our praise of Him.
As ones bearing his image we have been given an incredible responsibility. Into our hands God has entrusted an amazing task, along with some pretty amazing abilities as human beings. To often we overlook this when it comes to our praising Him. It’s a privilege to have the responsibility and freedom that God has given us here on planet earth. It’s a privilege that necessitates ongoing gratitude and praise on our parts towards God.
As God exercises careful and holy dominion over the whole universe, we who bear his image and who inhabit this earth are to emulate Him, within the scope of our abilities, in the way He exercises His dominion.
Taking care of this world is our job as humans.
Because of our sinfulness we are unable to rule this world in the way God wants us to and has commanded us to.
Perfect dominion is only true in Christ. He alone is Lord of all creation.
In our exercise of dominion over this earth we must turn to Christ and his wisdom and strength. In Jesus alone can we fulfill the incredible creation mandate that God has given to us.
CONCLUSION
Our God is an amazing and awesome God and He is worthy of our praises.
What is that makes our God so wonderful, amazing, and awesome--- and hence worthy of our praises?
1. The fact that his glory and power is manifest in all places and in all corners of the created order
2. His methods in dealing with His enemies
3. The beauty, complexity, and vastness of the created order
4. Our composition as human beings. In particular, our being created in the image of God
5. His delegation to us of authority to exercise dominion over this earth
