This eighth psalm is a psalm of praise, wonder,
and admiration. Let's read it together. Psalm 8, verse 1. O LORD, our
Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has set
Thy glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast Thou ordained strength, because of Thine enemies,
that Thou mightest steal the enemy and the avenger. When I
consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful
of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast
made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned
him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beast of the field,
the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is Thy name in all the earth. The psalm begins with extolling
God's name and it ends with extolling God's name. Isn't it a blessing when we can
just for a moment pause and thank on the glory and majesty of our
Lord's name. His name carries with it all
the characteristics of God, the wonder of one God in three persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. His name being revealed here
as Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, Jehovah,
the God who saves. Our God is the thrice holy God,
the God that is just, He shall punish sins. And the justifier, He is able
to save to the uttermost. The ever-present omniscient Lord
God is our Lord, our Master, our Ruler. He is Lord whether
we be willing bond slaves in love or rebellious servants. All the earth knows, whether
or not we'll admit it, that the Lord God is our Lord. One day every knee shall bow
and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of the Father." This morning, I hope we can go
through this psalm together, and I plan to go through it twice.
The first pass-through, we'll look at this psalm as the title
says, A Psalm of David. and the second pass we'll look
at it as a psalm of the Lord Jesus Christ. David begins the psalm full of
wonder. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth, who has set thy glory above the
heavens. As the children of God, as those
who are redeemed and saved from our sins, we magnify the Lord's
name and we marvel at His glory, which cannot be contained. The
creation cannot contain His glory. His glory is set above the heavens. Hold your place here and turn
over to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews 1. Hebrews 1 verse 1. God, who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he
made the worlds. who being the brightness of His
glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding
all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on High." Our Lord Jesus Christ is the brightness of glory and
we shall all praise His name. Verse 2, in Psalm 8, Out of the mouth of babes and
sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies,
that thou mightest steal the enemy and the avenger. Notice there that he says, because
of thine enemies, not our enemies. We have many enemies. Those of
us who are redeemed and saved by God's grace, we have many
enemies, but they're His enemies. We don't have to deal with them. This verse might well be read
in the literal sense. Out of the mouth of babes hast
thou ordained strength, For the chief priests and scribes were
sore displeased when the children cried in the temple, Hosanna
to the Son of David, after Christ had cast out those that sold
and bought in the temple and healed the blind and lame. Those children cried out in praise
while the religious rulers rejected our Lord." But, as I stand before you this
morning, attempting to proclaim something of God's glory, I can't
help but think that David, while he was writing this, had himself
in mind. He felt he was a babe and a suckling. Who am I to be proclaiming God's
glory? who, compared to many who preach
the gospel today, am but a babe in Christ. Who am I, a sinful man, in comparison
to the Almighty God, to even try to speak of His glory? I'm but a babe. But it is God,
to His glory, who has purposed to save His people by the foolishness
of preaching, even by the preaching of one as weak as I am. Paul said, when I am weak, that
is without power, leaning upon and having no hope of my own
flesh, Then am I strong, because I know
that in me is nothing. I have no hope, I have no strength,
and I have to look to the one who is mighty, who is true strength. Will my Lord, Savior, Christ
Jesus. We babes, when strengthened by
the Holy Ghost, proclaim, all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness
thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the
flower fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it.
Surely the people are grass. Grass withereth, the flower fadeth,
but the word of our God shall stand forever. That proclamation
of the gospel, with the blessing of the Holy Ghost, stills, captures
the enemy and the avenger. Verse 3 and 4, David says, When
I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and
the stars which thou hast ordained, What is man that thou art mindful
of him, and the son of man that thou visitest him?" Do you like the psalmist to ever
get wrapped up in the glory displayed in God's creation? David began
Psalm 19 with, "...the heavens declare the glory of God, When
we behold the moon, the sun, the planets, the stars, those
are the works of God's fingers. As we behold them, Can we not take our place? How proud must a man be to think
he is something when he gazes into the heavens and sees the
works of God's fingers? Are we not insignificant? Yet worse than a comparison in
size, the heavenly bodies have never rebelled against God's
Word. They have always followed His
course as He deemed them to. But we, insignificant man, rose
up against our God and declared with one voice, we will not have
you to reign over us. God is just to condemn us, for
all of us have come short of His glory. And yet, our God is
mindful of man, even the Son of Man visiting Him. Verse 5. For thou hast made him a little
lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Man, being created of the dust
of the earth and dwelling upon the earth, is created a little
lower than the angels. The angels who dwell in glory,
beholding the face of God the Father. Yet, being created a little lower
than the angels, God has crowned man and the Son of Man with glory
and honor. Satan rebelled against God, and
he and those angels that followed him were cast out of God's presence
without mercy, without recourse. but some of Adam's fallen race.
Those who God elected unto Himself from the foundation of the world.
Some of those who rebelled in similar fashion after Satan and
the angels that followed him. Some of those have found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. God must be just. Sin must be
punished. Christ, coming in the likeness
of sinful flesh, visited God's people. He satisfied the law
on their behalf. And because of our weakness,
because of our inability, He bore our sins in His own body
upon the tree. He shed His blood, the just for
the unjust. He became a curse for us, and
He died to pay our debt. Since He paid for my sins and
provided a ransom in full, Christ arose the third day, proving
once for all that my sins were paid for, they were gone. and
He has clothed me in His own righteousness. We, the elect
of Adam's seed, are crowned with the glory and honor of the Son
of God, because as He is, so are we in this world. Verses six through eight, Psalmist
declares that we have dominion over all the works of thy hands. Considering God's mercy and grace
towards sinners such as ourselves, considering his condensation
to be mindful of man, that he sent his own son to suffer and
die in our stead, At one time we looked at the
works of His creation and we glorified them. We made idols
out of them. We exalted them above measure. Do we not look upon them in the
light of what God has done for us, what Christ has done for
us? Do we not look upon the beast of the fields, the fowls of the
air, the fish of the sea, and we see them as so much smaller
than they once were in our eyes? When we walked this world without
God and without Christ, we exalted the creation rather than the
Creator. And now with new eyes, With eyes
to see Christ, we look upon His creation, those temporal things,
which we once exalted, and we now count them as being worthy
of being placed under our feet, and not worthy to be looked up
to. But we want to see Christ and Him alone. And all of this, all that David
has said, leaves us with only one thing to do. Cry out all
the more of the excellency of the name
of our Lord. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth. This psalm holds for us great
and wonderful meanings as a psalm of David. But in this second
part, I want to look at it again in a different light as the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, some of the preachers that
we love to listen to even today, some of those in the past, some
today, they take a little offense to having red letter Bibles.
For they say that if you're going to put the words of Christ in
red, the whole of Scriptures should be written in red ink. Our Lord Jesus Christ is called
the Word of God. He is the Word made flesh. All of the Scriptures are concerning
our Lord. They point to Him, they teach
of Him, and they are His words. Holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. Men wrote the Scriptures, but
they wrote the Scriptures under the inspiration of God Himself. They were given the words to
write. The psalm we are reading is the
words of Christ. Just as Psalm 22 is the words
of Christ upon the cross, Psalm 8 is His words as well. Another
thing to keep in mind is that our Lord, as a man, was taught
the Scriptures. Luke 2.52 says that Jesus increased
in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. There was a day that our Lord
As a child, most likely, was taught this scripture. He had a teacher that sat down
with him and taught him how to read this psalm. Even though
it was his own words, he had to learn this psalm. There was also a day when our
Lord fulfilled the psalm. Every jot and tittle of the scriptures,
He had to fulfill. We can't do it. He had to do
all of it. So with these things in mind,
let's go through this psalm one more time. Verse one. O Lord, the God-man, Jesus of Nazareth
calls out to Jehovah. Says, O Lord, the Son of God,
while in His humanity, was a man of prayer. How often do we find
in the Scriptures that He separated Himself out in prayer? and went before His Father. If
our Lord places such high esteem upon prayer, may God give us
a heart to seek our Lord in prayer as well. O Lord, our Lord. Take notice of Christ's relationship
to His people. He doesn't say, O Lord, their
Lord. Oh Lord, this people's Lord. Oh Lord, your elect's Lord. But he says, oh Lord, our Lord. Jesus Christ, who being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men. As a man, Christ became a servant
to fulfill God's law. By one man we rebelled and were
cast out of God's presence. Only by a man can men be reconciled
unto God again. The law must be fulfilled for
God to accept a man. Christ cried out to the God who
saves, took His place as a servant, and proclaims the excellency
of the Lord Jehovah's name. Those of us who have been redeemed,
who have been called by God's grace, we know something of the
majesty and excellency of God's grace in saving sinners. Our
Lord knows it in full. He knows the exceeding sinfulness
of sin. He knows the hatred that God
has for sin, and He knows the holiness of God. And knowing
all that, He, as our representative, proclaims the excellency of God's
name, and He does it for us, because we can't do it. Try as
we like to proclaim the wonder and the majesty of His name,
we can't do it. But our Lord can, and He did
for this sinner. Verse two. Out of the mouth of
babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of
thine enemies, that thou mightest steal the enemy and the avenger,
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of
God! How unsearchable are His judgments
and His ways past finding out! Neither Satan nor all of the
world's religions since the fall of man could ever conceive that
a man should be brought forth not coming as a great, mighty,
conquering king, but coming as a lowly servant to suffer and
die at the hands of sinful man. And by his death and resurrection,
he saves his beloved sinners. I wonder Did Satan rejoice at
the deception of Eve and the rebellion of Adam? Did he think
to himself, I've done it now. I've thwarted God's plans. Did he realize that he was simply
a tool sent to accomplish God's eternal purpose? Those who slew
our Lord on the cross, they believed that they were doing God's service. They thought that in removing
this man, they wouldn't be bothered with Him again. They were nothing more than tools
in God's hand to save His elect, to redeem His people. None but God could ever conceive
a means by which He can be just, condemn the sinner, and justify,
save those who had rebelled against Him." That takes the wisdom and
knowledge of God. Verses 3 and 4, I love to think
of these verses. We are reading what Christ fulfilled. There was a day, and in my mind's
eye, our Lord's a child. And all of us as children have
sat under the stars and looked up at Him in wonder and amazement. My Lord, sat down and looked
into the heavens and he considered God's heavens. He considered the works of God's
fingers. He considered his work. As a man, he sat down and considered
God's heavens. And as he did it, he did it perfectly. We can sit there and marvel at
the wonders that we see and behold, but nothing like he did. He sat
and considered them perfectly, seeing God's excellency in his
creation without sin. What must that be like? One day, this body of sin's going
to be put off. And then I'll know as I'm known. And I hope I'll be able to sit
and consider thy heavens, the wonders of thy works. And then, As a man, Jesus asked,
what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that
thou visitest him? This man considered God's heavens
and he wondered that God, the God of salvation, should consider
man. And what's even more astounding
about this verse He was filled with wonder that
God would visit him. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record
our Lord referring to Himself as the Son of Man 72 times. Our Lord so closely identifies
with us in our sins and iniquities that He wonders that God would
visit Him. God in the flesh wondered that
the God of salvation would visit him. I can't explain it. I can't come
close to understanding it. But that's what is written here.
That's what our Lord said of himself. And verse 5 tells us why Christ
would wonder that God, the Lord Jehovah, would visit Him, the
Son of Man. God has made Him a little lower
than the angels. For a time, our Lord, the Son
of God, dwelt upon the earth. He made His dwelling place among
sinful men. Throughout scriptures, we read
of angels visiting the earth and the people thereof, but they
don't stay. They pass through, they accomplish
their purpose for which they were sent and they leave. But this man took up his abode
with us. He came and he stayed. Job said, behold, he, God, put
no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly. And our Lord wondered that God
would visit him. And not only did God make him
a little lower than the angels by causing him to dwell with
sinful men, but he lived under the law. and he also suffered death. The
elect angels behold the Father's face. Christ cried out from the
cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? My sin, being
found upon Christ my Passover, caused God the Father to forsake
the Son of Man. and he was made a little lower
than the angels. Christ was made a little lower
than the angels and has been crowned with glory and honor. God has crowned a man. The glory
and honor for a man has kept his law. A man has suffered the
wrath of God. A man has borne the sins of many. and made reconciliation between
God and men. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2 verse 13. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us. Verse 15, having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of twain one
new man, so making peace, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Because of what he has accomplished,
God has given him a name which is above every name. Hebrews
1.4 says, He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. One final place, turn over to
Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 and verse 7. Hebrews 2, 7. The writer of the
Hebrews is quoting our psalm here. Hebrews 2, verse 7. Thou madest
him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor, and did set him over the works of thy hands. Thou
hast put all things in subjection under his feet, for in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him. 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 honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man. For it became Him, for whom are
all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons
unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. For both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he
is not ashamed to call them brethren. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth. This God, this Savior is worthy
of our praise and admiration. Psalm 150 verse six says, let
everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. As a Psalm of David, all of God's
elect can echo the words and thoughts of this Psalm. How we
long to magnify and extol His name. properly, as it should
be extolled. To see Christ lifted up as the
only one worthy of receiving all glory, honor, and power. to see His sovereignty magnified
in the election and salvation of helpless babes, and to know
that the Lord God is mindful of sinners, so much so that He
sent His only begotten Son into the world to save sinners. approaching
this psalm as the psalm of Christ, who came into the world and fulfilled
everything that was written of Him, we see Him, our Redeemer,
fulfilling the Scriptures. He took His place as a servant,
and representing us, He called upon the Lord, Jehovah, His Lord. The Ancient of Days became a
babe, and because He suffered and died for us, He has stilled
the enemy and the avenger for us. He marveled at God's grace
in visiting His people, and we see Him crowned with glory and
honor. What a blessing we have when
we, who do not see all things under His feet yet, see Jesus
magnified in His glory. Words fail us. Even when we see
through a glass darkly, when we see some of His glory, what
more can we say than, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy
name in all the earth. Pray the Lord that it's a blessing
to you.