Making "Psense" of Psalms--Psalm 8: Majesty!

The world could not contain all the photos of God's majestic
creation!  I took this one of the Tumwater River in
Central Washington state

 Second in a series of selected psalms.
It was still “black night” at 5:30 a.m. that January morning as I ran out to retrieve the morning paper. Despite the freezing temperatures, I paused to look up at the sky. I scanned the horizon in awe of scintillating stars too numerous to count. “Lord, it’s just magnificent,” I whispered, realizing I don’t stop and “consider” God’s amazing creation often enough. But when I do, the opening words of Psalm 8 frequently come to mind: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens.”

            I memorized this psalm as a child during a week of vacation Bible school.  At first, we children thought memorizing a whole psalm was too hard. Our teachers reminded us of verse 2—that if babies could praise God, we older kids certainly could tackle a mere nine verses. Years later, those words came alive as I studied what Psalm 8 teaches about God’s glory and man’s dignity. The psalm contains three big ideas:

            1. The praise of children dumbfounds unbelievers (v. 2). The astounding fulfillment of this would come when Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the hosannas of children (Matt. 21:16, 1 Cor. 1:25-29). This sat poorly with the religious authorities, as Jesus didn’t fit what they thought a “messiah” should be.

            2. The universe testifies to God’s mind-boggling creative power (vv. 3-4). David composed this psalm, and it’s easy to imagine him watching his sheep at night, stunned by the glittering display of moon and stars. If God is big enough to craft all this, what is man to Him?

            If you sense your awe of creation has dimmed, visit this nine-minute You-tube video called “Powers of Ten: Adventure in Magnitude”: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 . First published in 1977, the video starts with a picnic near Chicago, then progressively zooms away to 10 meters to the 24^th power (about 100 million light years). At that distance, our solar system is but a tiny speck. Then the video reverses, magnifying to 10 to the 16^th power, showing the proton of a carbon atom within the DNA molecule of a white blood cell. Viewing the video reminded me of Charles Spurgeon’s remark: “As well might a gnat seek to drink in the ocean, as a finite creature to comprehend the eternal God.”

            3. The God who created us, loves us (vv. 5-8)! He placed humans just below angels in hierarchy, and gave them charge over all earth’s living creatures. Hebrews 2:6-8 quotes this part of Psalm 8, then adds, “Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.” Sin changed the perfect relationship of humans and creation. But someday, Jesus will restore that harmony of earth’s land, air and sea creatures. In the meantime, God is mindful of us! He cares for us! That’s even more amazing than the “Powers of Ten.”

            Psalm 8 is sandwiched by a refrain that’s easy to skip over: “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (vv. 1, 9). The first name, printed in small capital letters, refers to a name for the self-existing, eternal God—a name that Jews considered so holy that they would not say it aloud or spell it. When vowels were added to ancient Hebrew scripts (which spelled words only with consonants), that name came to be known as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah.” The second “Lord,” is a translation of the word “Adonai.” It designates a relationship: sovereign,” “controller,” “lord,” “master,” “owner.” Together the names communicate our need to worship and serve God.

            Both those meanings unfold in Psalm 8. He is the mastermind of a mind-boggling creation. He is also the celestial authority who has graciously accorded men and women a place of responsibility in His unimaginably creative and complex system of living things. The best word in our impoverished vocabulary for all this is majestic!

Next blog: Psalms 16 and 24.