Would you turn to Psalm 8. Psalm 8, let's read this psalm
together. If you haven't noticed, there's Brad and Jessica. So thrilled to see you guys. O Lord, our Lord. Now, that statement lets you
know he's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. O Lord, our Lord. Remember when David said, the
Lord said to my Lord? Same statement. O Lord, our Lord. How excellent is thy name in
all the earth. Who hath 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 still 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 has
made him a little lower than the angels and has crowned him
with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands. Thou has put all things under
his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field,
the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the sea, O Lord, our Lord. How excellent is thy name. in all the earth. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
excellence of your name. The name that is highly exalted,
the name that's above every name, the name upon which we call.
Lord, we ask that your name might be proclaimed and that we might
be enabled by your grace to worship through thy name. Accept our
thanksgiving. We're so very thankful and grateful
for the salvation that's in your name. May your name be clearly set
forth. Forgive us of our sin for Christ's
sake. We pray for our friends that aren't here that you'd be
with them. Keep them by your grace. those that are traveling,
we ask for your traveling mercies for them. Be with all your people
wherever they meet together, in Christ's name we pray, amen. Now we don't know what the period
of David's life was when he wrote this psalm, but I like to think
of David being a young teenager at this time, probably before
Goliath, a very young man, as a shepherd, maybe laying on his
back, looking up at the night stars. And I know I'm speculating
at this time, but I like to think of this as David being a young
man, looking up and saying, Oh 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 has thou
earned in strength because of the enemies, that thou mightest
still the enemy and the avenger when I consider thy heavens.
And I love the way he calls the heavens the work of his fingers,
not his mighty arm. His mighty arm was made bare
in the salvation of his people, but the work of the heavens. Now, we know from Hebrews 2 that
the subject of this psalm is the Lord Jesus Christ. The writer
to the Hebrews quotes it in Hebrews 2, this very psalm is pointing
to the Lord Jesus Christ. But I love the way he says, oh
Lord, our Lord. Oh Lord, our Lord. That's the same as when David
said, the Lord said to my Lord. And this is talking about Jesus
Christ, the Lord. Oh Lord, our Lord. How excellent is thy name. Now, he is the Lord. He's your Lord. He's my Lord. And somebody says, well, he's
not my Lord. Yeah, he is. Yeah, he is. You're in his hand. He is your Lord. Oh Lord, but
what a blessing to be able to say, our Lord. Like Thomas said,
my Lord and my God. Oh Lord, our Lord. How excellent, how majestic,
how altogether glorious is thy name. I love what Paul said in
Philippians chapter two, thou has given him a name, which is
above every name that is the name of Jesus. Every knee is
going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that he is
Lord to the glory of God, the father. Oh Lord, our Lord, how
excellent is thy name. And I have no doubt included
in that thought. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Why? Savior, for he shall save. I love that. Not he offers salvation. Here, it's up to you to take
it. That won't do me any good. He shall save. his people from their sins. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name. This is the name upon which we
call. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. Now, don't let that go by you. When I'm calling upon
his name, I'm calling upon who he is. I'm calling upon every
one of his attributes. I'm not just calling his name
audibly. I'm saying, Lord, save me by who you are. Save me as
an act of your sovereign will. Will my salvation. Save me by
your justice. Save me by your grace. Save me
by your love. Save me by your power. Save me
by your wisdom. That's the name that's being
spoken of. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in
all the earth, who has set, verse one, who has set thy glory above
the heavens. Now, the heavens declare the
glory of God. All you gotta do is look at this
creation. All anybody has to do is look
at this creation and they're going to conclude God is. Everybody at one time believed
in the existence of God. I realize there are atheists
who would deny the existence of God, but they weren't always
atheists. You have to do some real mental
mind games to make yourself an atheist, because it doesn't even
make sense. Somebody had to make this place, and to deny that
he made it, how base. our base, to deny that he made
this creation. He said, you set your glory above
the heavens. Now, what he means by that is
his glory, the heavens declare the glory of God, but his glory
is above the heavens. He has more glory than the heavens. The one who made the heavens
has more glory than the heavens, doesn't he? Just like the one
who made the house has more glory than the house itself. Thou hast
set thy glory above the heavens, the glory of creation. Now look in verse two. This is
quoted. by the Lord. This is one of his,
when he said to the Pharisees, have you not read? When he comes
into Jerusalem and they're crying, Hosanna in the highest. Oh, they're
Hosanna in the highest. And the Pharisee said, master,
rebuke thy servants. They shouldn't be saying things
like this. He says, have you not read? I love it when the
Lord does that. There's a sarcasm. Would you say that? I believe
so. Have you not read? He knew they'd read. He knew
they'd read every word in the Bible, but he said, evidently
you looked over that. Have you not read out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained? Praise. Let's read this verse two. Out
of the mouth of babes and sucklings has thou ordained strength because
of thine enemies that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. Now, that word ordained means
you've appointed strength, you've ordained strength to still your
enemies. Your enemies are under your thumb
and you will have vengeance upon your enemies. Now remember this,
the Lord said, vengeance is mine, it's not mine, it's not yours.
Under any circumstance, vengeance is not mine, it's not yours,
but the Lord did say, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith
the Lord. I'm thankful. I'm thankful it's
not mine too. I don't need to make a decision
about something. I don't have enough sense to make it to, well,
this needs to be done. I don't know, but he does. Verse three. When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou
hast ordained, seeing this, I think of him laying on his back, looking
up in the night sky as a shepherd. and seeing the stars and the
moon and the galaxy and the universe was actually much larger than
he had any idea of. I mean, the unseen galaxies,
the stars, but he knew who put him there. And he felt very small
when he looked up at the glorious heavens. And he said, what is
man that thou should even look his way? and take thought of
him. Now, what is man? He realized what
man is, a sinner, a rebel, an enemy of God. He realized that.
And his thoughts are, why would you even look man's way? Now this is not the question
most people ask. They think, what is, I mean,
sure God, we're his creatures. He ought to take care of us.
He ought to save us. He ought to do all these things
for us. There's a sense of entitlement. David didn't have anything like
that. What is man that you would even look his way? A fallen creature. What is man
that you would look his way? And the son of man, verse four,
that thou visitest him. Now who's the son of man? What
is the name the Lord Jesus gave to himself the most? The son of man. the son of man. Now, what is
man? Talking about the natural man that you'd even look his
way or the son of man that you visit him. And this is going
to be quoted in Hebrews chapter two, and we're going to go there
in just a moment. But he says, for thou has made him a little
lower than the angels. Now, if you think of men, Like
me and you, the scripture points out the angels are greater than
power and might. I don't understand much about
angels. I know there are angels. The Bible says, speaks of them. They're much greater in power
and might than you and I are. But I think more than anything
else, he's talking about, and I know more than anything else,
he's talking about the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. When
he was made, when he took upon flesh, and was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh, thou has made him a little lower than the angels
and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him, and
this is talking about the first creation, and it's also talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ, thou madest him to have dominion
over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under
his feet for him to reign over. All sheep and oxen, yea, and
the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish
of the sea, and whatsoever passes through the parts of the seas.
And then he repeats what he said in verse one. Oh Lord, our Lord,
how excellent, how majestic, how altogether glorious is thy
name. Now, would you turn with me to
Hebrews 2? This is where this Psalm is quoted, Hebrews 2. Look what he says in verse six,
but one in a certain place, Hebrews 2, six, speaking of Psalm eight,
One in a certain place testified, saying, What is man? That thou
art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him.
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest
him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the work of
thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection
under his feet. For him that he hath 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. Now in Hebrews one and Hebrews
two, he was talking about the superiority of Christ to angels. Look in verse four of chapter
one. Being made. so much better than
the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. For unto which of the angels
said he at any time, thou art my son, and this day have I begotten
thee. Look in verse 13 of chapter one,
but unto which of the angels saith he at any time, set on
my right hand. until I make thine enemies thy
footstool. That was not said to the angels,
was it? Now in verse five of chapter two, for unto the angels
hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we
speak. Now remember when it's talking about everything is gonna
be put under his feet, that's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who he is referring to in that passage. Now let's
go on reading. But in the angels hath he not
put in subjection the world to come where we speak, but one
in a certain place testified, saying, what is man? That thou art mindful of him,
the son of man, that thou visitest him. Thou madest him a little
lower than the angels. Thou hast crowned 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. Now, we see all kinds of rebellion
going on right now, don't we? I mean, this world's a mess.
Everything is not put under his feet as far as our experience
goes just yet. We don't see that. We know he's
in control, don't we? And we know everyone and everything
is simply doing his will. He is in control. But, verse
9, we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels. He became flesh. He took upon
him the form of a servant. He was made a little lower than
the angels for the suffering of death. Here's how he was made
lower, he died. You know, none of them have ever
died. He died. That's one of the great mysteries
of the scripture that the God-man died. Somebody says, how did
that happen? I don't know, but he did. He was made sin and he
died. The God-man died. He was made
a little lower than the angels in that he died. And now because
of his death, he's crowned with glory and honor that he, by the
grace of God, should taste death. Now what I thought about when
I thought about that tasting of death, and it says for every
man, and in the original, the word man is not there, it's literally
for the whole, and who every man is is explained in the context
of this passage of scripture. It's not talking about all men
without exception, it's talking about the elect, and that's seen
very clearly as we look in what is being said, but to think of
him tasting death, and I thought of in Gethsemane's garden, He
said, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. It's a cup he was going to drink.
Now you think of a cup with the most vile, noxious, you know,
just grotesque things that you couldn't stand taking into your
body. How difficult that would be.
And that's nothing in comparison to Christ drinking the cup of
our sins and then becoming in his own body on the tree and
they becoming his sin. Now he never committed sin, but
he experienced everything about sin, but the commission of it
when he drank that cup dry. Now, let's go on reading. We're
going to see what this means. 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. Now, the word for man in the
original is not there. It's just the word for the whole,
for the whole, for all of the elect, for everybody he died
for. For, verse 10, It became him for whom are all
things. Everything's for his glory and
by whom are all things. Jesus Christ is the cause. The
first cause of everything. You can't take that too far.
He really is the Lord. Everything was made for him and
everything was made by him, he is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, for it became him for whom
are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons
unto glory and to make the captain of their salvation perfect, complete
through his sufferings, through sufferings. You see the reason
that God can look at you and God sees not as man sees, He
sees you all the way through. He sees me all the way through.
Now the reason God can look at you and see you as without sin,
perfect, is because of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the reason, the cross. He made you perfect through his
sufferings. Look what verse 11 says, for
both he that sanctifieth. Now that word sanctify means
makes holy. Makes holy. He's the one who
makes you holy. If you're holy, he did it. Amen. He did it. Salvation is of the
Lord. Both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified. They're the ones he made holy.
They didn't make themselves holy. He made them holy. He's the one
who sanctifies, we're the ones who are sanctified. Now, what's
it say with regard to these people? It says they're all of one. I am one with Jesus Christ. And the illustration the Lord
gives is the vine and the branches. The stem that goes through the
vine is the exact same stem that goes through the branches, and
there's no connecting point, is there? Now this is something
we just believe, we don't understand. One with Christ? One with Christ? Not close, not glued together,
but one, eternally one. This is the believer's hope,
I'm one with Christ. Both he that sanctifieth and
they who are sanctified are all of one, for the which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren. Jesus Christ is not ashamed,
only he's one of mine. He's gonna confess my name before
the Father. You know, when my name is called, he's going to confess my name.
He's one of mine. He's eternally united to me. Saying, verse 12, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren. Now, on the cross, Jesus Christ
declared the name of his father, every attribute of God, who God
is, is manifest in the cross. Every attribute, his holiness,
his justice, his wisdom, his independence, his power, his
immutability, every attribute of God is manifest. And he's
declaring this name, who? Christ calls us his brethren. His brethren. Verse 13. In the midst of the church, verse
12, I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the
church. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and
gave himself for it. He said, I will sing praise unto
thee. Now here, I enjoy hearing people sing the praises of God,
but here's a special. Oh, can you imagine hearing him
sing? And the scripture says, in Nahum
I will joy over them with singing. That's talking about every believer,
just happiness. And again, verse 13, and again,
I will put my trust in him. Now, who did God the Father trust? Do you trust you? mean you are trustworthy in and
of ourselves. He trusted his son. and the salvation. Remember that scripture in Ephesians
1, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted
in Christ. God the father is the one who
first trusted in Christ. When he entrusted the salvation
of his people to him, Christ said, I'll save them. And the
father trusted him completely to do it. Oh, the trust between
the father and the son. And then he says, and again,
behold, verse 13, behold, I and the children which God had given
me. How often did he refer to his people as the ones the father
gave him? Election. I pray for them, I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou has given me, for they are
thine. Verse 14, for as much then as
the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had power over death, that is the devil, and deliver
them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. For verily, he took not on him
the nature of angels, but he took upon him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behooved
him to be made like unto his brethren." First, God became man and never quit being
God. He's God just as if he were not
man at all, but when he took flesh, he was man just as if
he were not God at all. Perfect man. Great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
For him to save you, he had to take on flesh. He was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh. But notice it says, it became
him in all things to be made like unto his brethren. And I
don't have any doubt that what that's a reference to is him
becoming sin. He was made sin. And he, when you feel sinful
and just overcome happens sometimes with your own sinfulness and
your own weakness and your own nothingness. Do you know he is
sympathetic in that he's felt it much more acutely than you
have? And anything you feel and anything you've experienced He
can be sympathetic, he can be empathetic. He's moved to sympathy
because he has experienced it himself. Remember when he was
made sin, he never committed sin. It's not like when he was
made sin, he started lusting and started lying and started
cursing. That's not the case at all. Even when he was made
sin, he never sinned. Never in his person did he ever
sin, but he experienced everything about sin. And wherefore in all
things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren that
he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God. Now, he doesn't look at you as
your intercessor and your high priest, and he's disgusted with
you. No, he's merciful. He's moved
to sympathy. to make, and here's what he did,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people, for in that
he himself has suffered, being tempted. Now, that doesn't mean
he was tempted to sin. It's not like, Christ is impeccable. Understand that. He didn't even
have the potential to sin. If he had the potential to sin,
that would make him mutable, wouldn't it? That would be a
denial of his immutability. For him to even have the potential
to commit a sin is a denial of his absolute perfect holiness.
But when he was made sin, he was made to experience much more
acutely than you and I ever think about sin. And that's why he
can be this merciful, merciful, full of mercy and faithful high
priest For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted,
he is able also to succor them that are tempted, to help them
that are tempted, because he was made to be what we are. And David said, O Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth. Amen.