Okay, this evening we're gonna
take a look at a short psalm. Psalm number eight. Psalm number
eight. Notice verse one. Oh Lord, our
Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. That's going
to be the title for the message this evening. How excellent is
thy name in all the earth. who has set thy glory above the
heavens. Again, he repeats it in verse
nine. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent
is thy name in all the earth. Now each of us have a name, don't
we? If you would say a certain name, you would right away associate
that person with that name, Lionel Davis, Fred Muncy. I associate
your character, your demeanor, your person, who you are by name. And that is true with the Lord
Jesus Christ. His name identifies who he is. A name is important. To have
a good name, a good reputation, that's very important. The Lord
Jesus Christ has a name which is above every name. Excellent,
excellent name. This Psalm, Psalm 8, THE GOSPEL
FROM BEGINNING TO END FOR IT CELEBRATES THE GLORIES OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST AS THE LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. I LOVE THIS
WORD THAT HE USES DOWN HERE IN VERSE 6, THOU MADEST HIM TO HAVE
DOMINION. HE HAS DOMINION. THAT MEANS HE
RULES AND REIGNS OVER ALL THINGS, OVER ALL PEOPLE IN ALL PLACES
WITH ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY. AND HE REIGNS IN HEAVEN, AND
HE REIGNS IN EARTH, AND CERTAINLY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST which is
above every name. You remember the angel from heaven
appeared to Joseph and Mary, but specifically to Joseph, said,
call his name, the babe, the Lord Jesus, call him Savior,
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. He is
the Savior, he is what he's called, Savior, Jesus, Savior, Lord of
heaven and earth, that's his name. And then I like Isaiah
9, 6, where it said, unto us, a child is born, son is given,
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and the
government shall be upon his shoulders. The business and scope
of this psalm is to rejoice in God's great mercy to sinners
through incarnation that is God Almighty taking unto himself
a real body like unto ours apart from sin and God's mercy through
God's mercy to sinners through the incarnation of the blood
sacrifice and redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ and
his sovereign dominion over all his creatures. Our Lord said
this before he ascended to heaven, instructing those apostles, he
said, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Now you go and preach the gospel
knowing that I am with you always. Then he prayed, our Lord did
in John 17, Father thou has given him power over all flesh that
he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given to
him. God's gonna have mercy upon his
people. Now it's interesting, this psalm
was quoted at least three times in the New Testament in Matthew
21. 1st Corinthians 15 and in Hebrews
that we just read a moment ago Hebrews 2 verse 6 and 7 Now let's
take a look at verse 1 Psalm 8 verse 1 Oh Lord Whenever you
see that all capital letters on the word Lord that's referring
to Jehovah God Almighty the eternal everlasting God Oh Lord our Savior,
our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. How excellent is thy name in
all the earth, who has set thy glory above the heavens. Now, how high are the heavens?
They're pretty high. How high are the heavens? Well,
as many light years away as the heavens are, his glory is above
that. at infinite glory, infinite majesty,
infinite. The Lord Jehovah is our God,
our sovereign, our savior, who is excellent in all of his ways. His love is excellent. His mercy is excellent. His grace, his power, his atonement,
everything you can think of when we think of his name is excellent. He's excellent in everything
He does. He never makes a mistake. All
His doings are excellent. Everything He gives is perfect.
How excellent, honorable, and magnificent is Thy glorious name
in all the earth. and even the heavens above the
heavens. How truly is Jehovah our God
magnified and honored in the Lord Jesus Christ in all of his
covenant redeeming mercy given unto sinners. You know who mercy's
for? Sinners. You know who salvation's
for? The guilty. the guilty and wretched. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners who would set thy glory above the heavens. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the brightness of his glory. THE EXPRESS IMAGE
OF HIS PERSON WHEN HE BY HIMSELF PURGED OUR SIN, HE SAT DOWN ON
THE RIGHT HAND OF THE THRONE OF GOD. THAT'S HIGH, LIFTED UP,
AND HE'S SEATED. YOU KNOW WHY HE'S SEATED? HIS
WORK IS DONE. HIS WORK IS EXCELLENT. HIS WORK
IS ACCEPTED OF THE FATHER. THE GLORY OF HIS PERSON, THE
GLORY OF GOD, REMEMBER, SHINES IN THE FACE OF THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. THE SETTING OF HIM ABOVE THE
HEAVENS DECLARES THE EXHALTATION OF HIM AS THE GOD-MAN MEDIATOR. REMEMBER IN PHILIPPIAN CHAPTER
2 WHERE IT SAYS EVERY KNEE IS GOING TO BOW, GOD'S GIVEN HIM
A NAME, A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, THAT AT THAT NAME
EVERY KNEE IS GOING TO BOW, EVERY TONGUE IS GOING TO CONFESS THAT
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF GOD THE FATHER. YOU BOW NOW
OR YOU BOW THEN, BUT YOU WILL BOW AND YOU WILL ACKNOWLEDGE
HIS ABSOLUTE LORDSHIP. AND THEN I LOVE WHAT PETER SAID
IN ACTS CHAPTER FOUR. REMEMBER, NEITHER IS THERE SALVATION
IN ANY OTHER. KNOW OF THE NAME, GIVE IT AMONG
MEN, whereby we must be saved. It was upon the exaltation of
the Lord Jesus Christ. After he died for our sins, according
to scripture, he was buried and raised again the third day, but
he went higher than just that resurrection upon the earth.
40 days later, he ascended to glory and sat down, and it's
upon his exaltation that we have salvation. You see, we're accepted
in the beloved. When he sat down in glory, We
sat down in him. He's the forerunner. He's a representative
man. What he did, we did. Where he
is, that's where we are. Seated together in the heavenlies
right now in Christ. That's what the book says. You
say, well, I've not experienced that. Well, not in my person,
but I have in my head. THE FORERUNNER HAS ENTERED IN,
AND WE ENTERED IN IN HIM. HE'S THE HEAD, WE'RE THE BODY.
WE'RE SEATED IN THE HEAVENLY IN CHRIST. NOW LOOK AT VERSE
2, OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES AND SUCKLINGS HAST THOU ORDAINED
OR FOUNDED OR PREPARED POWER, STRENGTH. WHY? BECAUSE THE ENEMIES
THAT THOU MIGHTEST STEAL THE ENEMY. DOES THE BELIEVER HAVE
ENEMIES? and distill the enemy and the
avenger, the avenger of our soul, sin, guilt, and death, that thou
mightest defeat all our enemies. Now notice, he says, you're out
of the mouth of babes. God has sent his gospel into
the world and he has revealed himself unto his babes. BELIEVERS
ARE CALLED BABES IN CHRIST. HE HID THESE THINGS FROM THE
WISE AND PRUDENT, AND REVEALED THEM UNTO BABES, EVEN SO, FATHER,
FOR SO IT SEEMED GOOD IN THY SIGHT. NOW, THE LORD'S COMMENTS
ON THAT VERSE THERE, VERSE 2, I WANT US TO TURN AND READ OVER
IN MATTHEW 21, AND YOU CAN KIND OF SEE THE SENSE THE LORD JESUS
ACTUALLY QUOTES THIS SCRIPTURE FOUND IN MATTHEW 21, When the Lord came to his temple
and found them selling things and he made A tumult among them,
he overthrew the tables of the money changers, and he said,
my house shall be called the house of prayer, Matthew 21,
13. And he made it to den of thieves,
and the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he
healed them. And when the chief priests and
scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children
crying in the temple, saying, Hosanna to the son of David,
to the Messiah, they were sore displeased. That is, the self-righteous
religious. The blind and the lame came to
him and he healed them. And they said, Hosanna, Hosanna,
which means praise the Lord. And the religious folks got upset.
He said unto them, Hearest thou what these say? And the Lord
said unto them, yea, have you never read, out of the mouths
of babes and sucklings hast thou perfected praise? His children
do give him all their honor and glory for the salvation that's
of the Lord. Thou out of the mouths of babes,
his children, infants, God has ordained that the gospel should
go forth. God chooses simple, sinful, guilty
men, redeemed by the grace of God, to go forth and preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Preaching is one beggar telling
another beggar where he found bread. We have this treasure
of the gospel. The Lord uses weak, frail human
instruments to declare this gospel. This babes, this babes, If the
excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. This is
what happens when God is pleased to save and reveal himself unto
his people. He delivers them from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of God, your son, whereby they
never cease to praise him. God has ordained the preaching
of the gospel, the gospel, the power of God and the salvation.
because of the enemies that thou mightest defeat them. How? Through the gospel. Through the
gospel and strength that he has ordained. You see, it's the gospel
that's the power of God. It's through the gospel that
the enemies of God, enemies of God's people are defeated, conquered,
and overcome by Jesus Christ himself. We are more than conquerors
through him that loved us. Thanks be to God who has given
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You think of the
enemies we have, sin, death, hell, Satan, and the grave. The
Lord's taking care of all those issues. Put away sin, he conquered
death, defeated hell, and he's seated in the heavenlies. He
said, hi, he that liveth and was dead, behold, I'm alive forevermore. I have the keys, power, dominion,
authority, death and hell. Now, look at verse three and
four. When I consider, David is considering the glorious creation
of God, which he called his finger work. You remember when you were
in grade school and they wouldn't even give you a paintbrush? They
would just give you a pot of paint and they told you to use
your fingers. They didn't trust you with a
paintbrush. Finger work. We'd scribble on a piece of paper
and we'd rip it off and take it home, show mom and dad, look,
our finger work. But notice this, when I consider
the heavens, THE HEAVENS OF HEAVEN, THE INFINITE MAJESTY OF THE GLORY
OF THE UNIVERSE AND UNIVERSES OF UNIVERSES, THAT IS GOD'S FINGERWORK. WHEN HE TALKS ABOUT SAVING SINNERS,
YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAYS? HE SAYS, THE ARM OF THE LORD
HATH REDEEMED US. WHEN I CONSIDER THE HEAVENS,
AND THEY'RE GLORIOUS, AREN'T THEY? WHEN WE CONSIDER The heavens,
he talked about the moon and the stars, not even talking about
the sun, the moon and the stars, which God has ordained. He created
all things by the word of his power. He sustains all things
by the word of his power. They created by him and for him
and for his glory. But David is out there on a starry
night, looking up at the heavens, and noticing the twinkling of
those glorious stars, and he's overwhelmed at the majesty of
God, and then he says, what is man? What is man? That thou would even think upon
him. Considering the glory, the infinite
majesty of God's creation, what is man? You know, we could spend
the rest of the evening through midnight talking about what the
scripture said, what is man? What is man? I can sum it up
in one word, S-I-N, sin. That's what man is. God created
Adam in the garden, perfect and upright, but something happened. He rebelled against God and sin
entered in and God put him out. God said, when you eat, you'll
die, death by one man, death passed upon all men. What is
man? Fallen, ruined, guilty, vile,
and wretched that God would even think upon a man, a worm, a maggot,
as we'll call. Now that's condescending glory
for God to think upon a vile creature that we are. What is
man that thou art mindful of him? Or, and the son of man,
the best of men, that thou would visit him in mercy? Visit him
in grace? Visit him out of love? I tell
you what, the only reason for salvation IS NOT FOUND IN MAN. THE ONLY REASON FOR SALVATION
IS FOUND IN GOD. GOD ALONE. GOD WHO HATH BEGUN
A GOOD WORK. WHAT IS MAN THAT THOU ART MINDFUL
OF HIM? YOU SEE, THE ONLY REASON GOD
IS MINDFUL OF MAN IS BECAUSE WITHIN THAT CREATION OF MANKIND,
GOD HAS AN ELECT. He has a people out of every
tribe, kindred, nation, tongue under heaven. And the reason
God didn't destroy Adam and the whole race in him is because
God had a covenant people of which the Lord Jesus Christ stood
as a surety of those covenant people. And that's the only reason
they didn't perish. For thou has made him a little
lower than the angels. Now I see two Adams here. the first man of the earth earthy
and the second man is the Lord from heaven thou has made him
the Lord Jesus Christ and God man mediator a little lower than
the angels and God's crowned him with glory and honor thou
made it him to have dominion over the work of thy hands and
has put all things under his feet when considering Hello. When considering all that God
is, His power, limitless, His character, changeless, His love,
endless, all that He has created, what great glory we behold in
his sovereign mercy to sinners given to the incarnation of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that sons of men by his grace might be
made sons of God." Now think about this, the Son of God became
the Son of Man real human man, God incarnate, human flesh, the
Word made flesh, that sons of men, by His grace, might be made
sons of God. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons
of God. Oh, the wonder of the great,
infinite, condescending grace of God in Christ manifest in
the flesh to redeem His people. In the fullness of time, God
sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law to do what? To redeem them, to redeem them. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. The Lord Jesus passed
by the fallen angels. He took not on him the nature
of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham, we read
in Hebrews chapter two. That's the mystery of his sovereign
love. There's no mercy, redeeming,
delivering power for those fallen angels. He passed by those fallen
angels. They reserved an everlasting
change of darkness unto that great day. But God going to show
mercy unto his covenant people in the Lord Jesus Christ. That
seat of Abraham that he took hold of, that's his elect. That's
his church, his bride, his jewels. The Son of Man, the Lord Jesus
Christ in human flesh, fully God and fully man. His human
nature blessed above all. He is unfallen, nature untainted
by sin. He's God-blessed forever, visited
by limitless and unbounding favor of God the Holy Spirit without
measure. beyond our understanding the fullness of God dwelling
in him. All the fullness of a Godhead
dwelt in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what? It says further
in that verse, and we are complete in him. David, when considering the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem him from his sin, BREAKS OUT
IN HOLY WONDER AND PRAISE OF HIS COMING REDEEMER." DAVID'S
HOPE OF SALVATION WAS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. JOB'S HOPE OF SALVATION,
ABRAHAM, MOSES, ALL THE OLD PATRIARCHS, THEIR HOPE OF SALVATION, JACOB,
GOD IS MY SAVIOR. THEIR HOPE OF SALVATION WAS IN
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ALONE. LOOK AT VERSE 5, THOU HAST MADE
HIM A LITTLE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS, crown Him with glory and honor. Here we see something of His
humiliation in His human nature. Though He is high above all,
He is the most high God, yet for our sake He became low. He
became a servant made under the law to redeem us from our sin,
and yet He never stopped being God. The Word was made flesh,
but He never stopped being God. that he by the grace of God should
taste death for his covenant people. Paul writes about it. He said,
you know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that though he was
rich yet for your sake he became poor that you through his poverty
might be made rich. And again, Paul said, God made
him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Victorious. Thou hast made him
a little lower than the angels, but God crowned him with all
honor and glory. He spake from heaven on one,
two occasions and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm
well pleased. Now look at verse six. Thou hast
made him to have, even in his mediatorial surety
ship, Thou hast made him, the Lord Jesus Christ, to have dominion
over the works of thy hands thou hast put all things under his
feet. He mentions all the sheep, all
the oxen, all the beasts, the fowl of the air, the birds of
the air, the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the sea,
the Lord our God has dominion everywhere over all things. His dominion is absolute and
it's complete. HE HAS ALL DOMINION. WHAT DOES
DOMINION MEAN? IT MEANS HE HAS AUTHORITY. HE
HAS AUTHORITY. HE HAS THE SOVEREIGN RIGHT AND
POWER OVER ALL THINGS. WHATSOEVER THE LORD PLEASED THAT
DID HE, HEAVEN, EARTH, SEA, AND ALL DEEP PLACES, THAT WAS PUT
ALL IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. HE HATH DOMINION. THAT WAS PUT
ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET. Remember what it says over here,
don't turn, let me read it to you. Psalm 110, the Lord said
unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy foes. Thou hast put all things under
his feet, under his reign, under his rule. All things are in subjection
under his lordship. His absolute Lordship. Peter declared it at Pentecost,
didn't he? This same Jesus whom you crucified,
God has made Him both Lord and Christ. He's every man's Lord,
whether they acknowledge it, recognize it or not. And you're
gonna bow to His Lordship sooner or later. We'll all bow. I wanna
bow now by His grace. All things are in subjection,
unto him, under his rule, under his reign, his church. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. All angels are subject to him.
They are ministering servants sent forth to minister them to
them who shall be the heirs of salvation. All devils, demons
of hell serve his purpose. All evil wicked men serve his
purpose and bow to his will. All men everywhere FATHER JUDGETH
NO MAN, BUT COMMITTED ALL JUDGEMENT UNTO THE SON. GOD IS APPOINTED
TODAY IN WHICH HE WILL JUDGETH THE WORLD BY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. ALL PROVIDENCE IS UNDER HIS HAND.
OF HIM AND THROUGH HIM AND TO HIM ARE ALL THINGS TO WHOM BE
GLORY BOTH NOW AND FOREVER. IN VERSE 7 AND 8 DESCRIBES SOMETHING
OF THE RANGE AND SCOPE OF HIS Dominion, thou hast made him
to have dominion over the works of thy hand, thou hast put all
things, everything under his rule, under his reign, subject
to his throne, his sovereignty, all sheep, oxen, beasts of the
field, birds of the air, fish of the sea, and everything that
swims through the sea. He has power and dominion over
all creation, right? Over everything, and everlasting
dominion. From everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. Now don't turn, let me read this
to you here. I've got it written down, Psalm 72, verse 22. Verse six, he shall come down
like rain upon the mown grass as showers that water the earth.
In his day shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace
so long as the moon endureth. His dominion, he shall have dominion
also from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the
earth. They that dwell in the wilderness
shall bow before him and his enemies They'll lick the dust. Someone suggested that these
creatures that are mentioned here can be used in a figurative
way as they represent different groups. The sheep, whenever you
read the word sheep in Scripture, you should immediately think
about the Lord laid down his life for the sheep. And then
when you talk about the oxen, those who labor in his cause,
the cause of God in truth, those who are his servants under his
yoke, who serve him, the oxen, and then the beast of the field
could be considered those who are in opposition, who would
say there is no God. He still rules and reigns, he
dominions over them. And the fowls of the air, the
birds of the air, could be considered the ministering angels that do
God's purpose. And the fish of the sea or monsters
of the deep, the devil is God's devil who serves God's purpose. The devil's not out of control.
He's under God's dominion. Satan couldn't touch Job without
God's permission. THE DEVIL'S UNDER THE DOMINION
ALL THINGS, THOU HAST PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET. GOOD ANGELS
ARE BAD, DEMONS ARE HELL, WICKED MEN ARE UNDER HIS DOMINION. NEVERTHELESS,
WHATEVER CREATURE THERE IS, WHEREVER THEY ARE, whoever they are, whatever
they are, the Lord Jesus Christ has absolute dominion over them. Now let me read some scriptures
in closing on this point, on this word dominion. Numbers 24,
out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall have dominion and shall
destroy him that remaineth in the city. Psalm 145, thy kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom and thy dominion endures throughout
all generations. His sovereign dominion is everlasting. Daniel chapter four, remember
at the end of the days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up my eyes unto heaven.
My understanding returned unto me. I blessed the most high and
praised and honored him that liveth forever. whose dominion
is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom from generation to
generation. All the inhabitants of the earth
are reputed as nothing. He doeth according to his will
in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth, and
none can stay his hand or say unto him, Lord God Almighty,
what doest thou? He has dominion, sovereign right
to rule over all things. in the book of Jude. We read
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory, majesty, dominion, and power forever and ever. And then it says, amen. One more. In the Revelation it
says, Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the first begotten of
the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and
hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. To him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Now, he has dominion
over all things. You, your family, your neighborhood,
your community, your city, your county, your state, your country,
this world, the universe, he rules and reigns everywhere.
Now, what do you say to that? Verse nine, oh Lord, our Lord,
how excellent is thy name in all the earth. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the alpha, the omega of all of our salvation. Salvation
is of the Lord. His power, excellent. His mercy,
excellent. His love, excellent. To you who
believe, he is precious. Excellent. Christ is better. Most excellent.