Psalm 8 Devotional Bible Study by Steve Wilson

Psalm 8

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] A psalm of David.

 

¹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

You have set your glory
    in the heavens.
² Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?^[c]

 

⁵ You have made them^[d] a little lower than the angels^[e]
    and crowned them^[f] with glory and honor.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their^[g] feet:
⁷ all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
⁸ the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

 

⁹ Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

Footnotes

1. Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
2. Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
3. Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
4. Psalm 8:5 Or him
5. Psalm 8:5 Or than God
6. Psalm 8:5 Or him
7. Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his

Walking a Little Higher

This psalm starts and ends with giving glory to God. But why is He said to be so majestic in this passage? Is it because He created the wonders of the heavens with nothing more than His fingers? That certainly shows His glory, but even more so is the fact that He cares for us!

 

What are we compared to the moon and the stars? We don’t deserve God’s attention. And yet He always has us on His mind. David says He is mindful of us.

 

It’s easy for us to denigrate ourselves by thinking of how weak or flawed or sinful we are. We think of ourselves as lowly creatures, but God thinks highly of us. He knows what He created us to be, and He knows He can lift us back up to that position after our Fall.

 

He created us to be just a little lower than the angels and gave us authority to rule over the earth He created. God thinks so highly of humans that He put us in charge of the natural world! And at the beginning of the psalm, it says that humans have so much spiritual power that even a child’s praise can silence God’s enemies and stop them in their tracks!  

 

Will you choose to see yourself the way God sees you today? You’re just a little lower than the angels. Will you walk in the authority He’s given you? He made you a ruler over the works of His hands.