Psalm 8 The Majesty Of God Series

The Majesty of God  

Psalm 8

Introduction

Mays: Psalm 8 is the first hymn of praise in the Psalter. It is unlike any other in structure and style. It is the only hymn in the OT composed completely as a direct address to God. Stafford Wright wrote, “This psalm could be killed by a commentary. it is best savoured by reciting aloud, preferably out in the country, perhaps under a blue sky, or under a cloudless night sky, like David, gazing at the march of the constellations as he kept the sheep.”

Psalm 8 explores the theme of God’s majestic splendor and our puny insignificance by way of comparison.

At the same time, God has created us in His image and graciously crowned us with glory and majesty. He has assigned us the role of ruling over His creation. All of these thoughts should lead us, as the psalm both begins and ends (Ps. 8:1, 9), to declare in worship, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

Derek Kidner (Psalms 1-72 [IVP], pp. 65-66) comments, “This psalm is an unsurpassed example of what a hymn should be, celebrating as it does the glory and grace of God, rehearsing who He  is and what He has done, and relating us and our world to Him; all with a masterly economy of words, and in a spirit of mingled joy and awe….”

1. THE SUPREMACY OF THE CREATOR (8:1, 2).

NIV Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

AMP O Lord, our Lord, How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth! You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.

Verse 1

Cole: “To try to comment on verse 1 is kind of like commenting on the splendor of the Grand Canyon. Words really can’t do it justice. You just need to get out of the way and let people see it!”

The first word translated “Lord” is the Hebrew word, Yahweh, God’s personal covenant name. It stems from the Hebrew verb, “to be.” God revealed it first to Moses at the burning bush when He said (Exod. 3:14), “I am who I am.” It points to God’s eternal self-existence. He is the only uncreated being in the universe! 

The second “Lord” is the Hebrew “Adonai,” meaning sovereign or lord. We could paraphrase David’s address, “O eternal covenant God, our personal Sovereign!”  Although God is eternal and totally separate from His creation, He has graciously condescended to enter into a covenant relationship with His people as their Sovereign Lord. What does it mean to say that the Lord’s name is majestic? What other words come to mind when you hear “majestic”? The word “majestic” implies royalty.  When Israel celebrated God’s mighty deliverance at the exodus, they sang (Exod. 15:11), “Who is like You among the gods, O Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders?”

David also says that the majesty of God’s name is seen in all the earth and above the heavens. Romans 1:20 AMP For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense.

Cole: When we consider God’s majesty as seen in all the earth, I could cite enough examples to keep you here all day. There is enough evidence for the Creator in the human body alone to convince anyone willing to think about it that we are not the product of random chance over a long period of time. The complexity of the human body, the balance of the natural world, the seasons, the balance between insects and birds and the other animals, it is simply absurd to suggest that it all came about by sheer chance over time without the Creator!

Verse 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. What does he mean? We usually think of children as helpless. How does the praise of children and infants create a stronghold against enemies? How do children and infants praise God?

John Calvin said that the process of the conception and birth of an infant displays God’s splendor so clearly that even a nursing infant brings down to the ground the fury of God’s enemies (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], on Psalms, p. 98).  Calvin didn’t know anything about the complex biological and chemical processes that take place in the mother and child at birth. He was just observing the wonder of a newborn baby. How can you look at a baby and say that it happened by sheer chance, apart from a Creator?