Psalm 8 Series

2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

The majestic glory of God can be seen stamped across the heavens, but it is also seen when He takes the insignificant ‘babes’ of the earth and uses them to confound the ungodly. When children grasp and rejoice in the simple truths of God, His glory is truly seen. Maybe David was present when the simple faith of a child silenced an arrogant opponent! Some have taken the phrase ‘babes and sucklings’ to refer to man in his weakness. The sincere praise of these ‘babes’ is set in sharp contrast to the scheming of God’s enemies. The idea is that the Lord has ordained that the weakest shall confound the strong—“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (1 Cor. 1:27). ‘The foolish things’ are the things believed to be foolish by people. The expression here refers to those who were lacking in learning, rank, wealth, and power, and who were considered fools, and were despised by the rich and the great. But these are the very ones that God uses to publish his gospel, and to ‘put to shame the rich and powerful.’ Jehovah is so great that He can entrust His praise to infants and children and still not be robbed of glory! Jesus quoted this verse after He cleansed the temple—“. . . And Jesus said to them, Yes; have you never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise?” (Matthew 21:16).

God has often used the weak and helpless to praise Him and help defeat His enemies. David himself was only a youth when he silenced Goliath and defeated him (1 Sam. 17:33; 42, 43), and he brought great glory to the Lord (1 Sam 17:45-47).

The Lord made the truth of this verse clear when he said, “… Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

The word ‘still’ is used here to mean ‘to silence men who criticize and grumble against God.’

‘Sucklings’ among the Hebrews were babes old enough to speak.

‘Ordained’ means ‘founded’, or ‘prepared, and perfected.’

‘Avenger’ refers to one who desires revenge and is disposed to be quarrelsome, and is apt to complain to God about their circumstances.

Sometimes the power of God brings to pass great things in His church, by very weak and unlikely instruments, so that the excellency of His power might more evidently appear to be of God, and not of man. He does this in order to put His enemies to shame.

3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

We are to consider the heavens, so that our affections are directed to things above.

This is a nighttime psalm, for he speaks only of the moon and the stars; the heavens at night calls forth this praise of God’s glory. When man (frail man) is compared with all the expanse above, how insignificant he seems