Transcript

In 1977, NASA launched a robotic spacecraft called Voyager 1, on a one-way mission to study Jupiter and Saturn and take pictures of the planets in our solar system.

Thirteen years later, it had completed its primary mission and was leaving the Solar System. On Valentine’s Day 1990, it was commanded by NASA to turn its camera around and take one last photograph of Earth across a great expanse of space.

But at this point, Voyager was 3.7 billion miles away from the earth. For 13 years it had been traveling at 40,000 miles an hour.

It turned around and took a series and succession of 60 photographs. And it started to send the images back to earth. Each of the 60 images contained 640,000 pixels.

A pixel is a tiny dot that makes up a photograph. Being 3.7 billion miles away, the pixels took 5 ½ hours each to make it back to the earth. So it took months for the images to come back. When it was finally complete, it stunned astronomy.

This famous image was later termed “The Pale Blue Dot.” In the photograph, the Earth appears as a tiny point of light and its size is less than a pixel. Our planet appears as a tiny dot against the vastness of space, among bands of sunlight reflected by the camera.

It is a portrait of our world from 3.7 billion miles away. This one-of-a-kind picture remarkably shows the enormity of space, and our undeniably-small place within it.

One famous astronomer of the day said, “Everyone who has ever lived their lives, lived them out on that tiny pale blue dot, a moat of dust suspended in a sun beam.”

A picture like this also brings Psalm 8:3-4 to mind and brings new meaning to it: “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?”

As we conclude our series on Creation Psalms, we will study Psalm 8 together in this episode.

Psalm 8:1-2: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast 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.”

Psalm 8 begins and ends with the same expression of wonder as David reflected on the splendor and magnificence of God as Creator.

David addressed his praise in the Psalm to “LORD our Lord” or Yehovah Adon. When “Lord” is in capital letters in your Bible it means Yahweh, or Jehovah, which is God’s name as the self-existent, eternal, and covenant keeping God of Israel.

The second title, “our Lord” is the Hebrew word “Adon” and means here that He is sovereign over all His creation, including His people, which is Israel, in this context.

The reference to God as “LORD our Lord,” teaches that although God is eternal and totally separate from His creation, He graciously condescended to enter into a covenant relationship with His people, Israel, as their Sovereign Lord.

But David recognized that He was also God of more than just Israel and that His name is excellent, in all the earth.

These words of praise to God and His name form a frame for its central subject, which is the worship of God in the creation of man as male and female, whom God made in His image, to reflect His glory, and to exercise dominion over His creation.

David stated that the Lord’s name, which stands for all that He is, is excellent in the earth. There is no one else like Him. He is incomparable.

Exodus 15:11: “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

David was overwhelmed by the greatness of the Almighty, and recognized God’s global glory, that the whole creation is full of and radiant with His excellence and power.

The majesty of the Lord is evident in the creation, if a person only has eyes to see it. Every area of natural science is filled with evidences of the wisdom and power of the Creator.

From pondering God’s excellence in the earth, David looks up to extol His glory in the heavens, and states that God’s glory is higher and beyond the heavens.

The planets, the stars, and the limitless universe reveal His glory, but they give only a partial view of how great and glorious God really is.

God is above the heavens, and His glory exceeds that of the heavens. He is much greater than anything and everything He has made.

Verse 2 takes us from the highest heavens to one of the smallest things on earth: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength.”

“Babes and sucklings” refers to young children. David moves from the glory of the massive heavens to small children, because God’s power and glory is seen in them too.

As David marveled at the heavens, he equally marveled at the wisdom that often comes out of the mouths of babes and children.

Because as it’s been rightly said, “unbiased and uncorrupted minds recognize God without difficulty from His creation.” Children find it easy to acknowledge and honor God, and to recognize Him as the Creator.

God’s transcendent glory, His greatness that is far above the heavens, can be grasped and expressed by a child! Children have a way of capturing spiritual truth in ways that amaze, and can even rebuke grownups.

One of my instructors in Bible school would often tell us that a child can read Genesis 1-11 and understand it better than most theologians. That’s true.

At Sunday School they were teaching how God created everything, including human beings. Little Johnny, a child in the kindergarten class, seemed especially intent when they told him how Eve was created out of one of Adam’s ribs.

Later in the week his mother noticed him lying on his side as though he were ill, and said. “Johnny what is the matter?” Johnny responded, “I have a pain in my side. I think I’m going to have a wife.”

Children also take things literally and they take them to heart. We often need this kind of mindset when we read the Bible, taking things literally and with child-like faith.

After healing the blind and the lame that came to the Lord in the temple, children that were present because crying out in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

The Son of David was a Messianic title and that Christ was the King of Israel.

As a result of the praise of these children and what they were calling the Lord, the chief priests and scribes were “sore displeased.” In response, the Lord quoted Psalm 8:2, “And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Matt. 21:16).

Those children in the temple had an open heart and more understanding as to the Person and identity of Jesus Christ than the learned priests and scribes in Israel at that time.

And by quoting this Psalm, the Lord also identified the indignant scribes and priests as the enemies and avengers of God as described in this psalm.

The teaching of Psalm 8:2 is that the Lord has ordained the weak in the world, the humble and the dependent, to confound the so-called strong and mighty.

As 1 Corinthians 1:27 sates, “God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” Often youth and the weak, can silence an enemy of God through an innocent question or observation.

And God uses the young and the weak to put those who refuse to acknowledge God to shame, to “still” and silence those who fight and rail against God or His existence.

Out of something so frail like children’s speech, God has “ordained strength,” or He builds a foundation and tower of strength, which restrains and can still the restless enemies of God.

Psalm 8:3-4: “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?”

Reading these verses, it’s easy to imagine David out under the stars one night. The stars were brilliant, and the moon, in its full phase, was crossing the heavens.

He felt, as we have all felt as we have stood under the stars at night, something of mingled mystery and awe as he looked up into the heavens. He considered the beauty of the heavens and its silent witness to the wisdom of God.

He saw the ordered procession of the stars. He noticed the varying glory and brightness of different stars, and the evident vast distances that are visible in the heavens.

And he was astonished at the greatness of a God who could create such things. His awe led him to praise its Creator.

The interesting thing is that 3000 years after David wrote these words we feel the same things and have the same sense of wonder when we consider the starry heavens.

From considering God’s strength revealed through children, in verse 3, David’s mind returns to the marvels of the heavens.

He looked up into the starry sky and considered the heavens and how great God is who made this vast, wonderful universe.

The word “consider” means to see, discern and perceive. David’s consideration of the heavens resulted in a true and obvious perception. He saw that it was all “the work” of God’s “fingers,” and that “the moon and the stars” are “ordained” and set in place by God.

And David only saw a fraction of this stellar display but he was overwhelmed nonetheless. He didn’t need the modern instruments or data of the number of stars or how far the heavenly bodies are from earth or from each other to be amazed. With the naked eye, one can see about 5,000 stars and that is more than enough to know that God is all-glorious.

In Job 9:8-10, also pondered and praised the God “Which alone spreadeth out the heavens…Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south. Which doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.”

But notice how David spoke of the sun, moon, and starry host as the work of God’s “fingers.” This figure stresses God’s care and skill and it compares Him to a sculptor.

It miniaturizes the magnitude of the universe in the presence of its Creator. In contrast to God, the heavens are tiny.

And it also stresses that it was easy for God to create the universe. It was as easy for God to create the heavens with His fingers, as it is for a human being to make something with our fingers. It required little effort on God’s part. And as we see from Genesis 1, God as created the whole material universe with just a few words.

As David pondered the power and majesty of God while looking up, his thoughts come back to earth again in verse 4: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him?”

Considering the greatness of the heavens made David consider the smallness and insignificance of man in comparison to it. David wondered why or how such a huge, glorious God would be mindful of such small beings as mankind.

In comparison with the lofty heavens, the radiant moon, and the hosts of sparkling stars, mankind seems to David wholly unworthy of God’s attention.

God is so big that He makes the universe with His fingers; while man is infinitesimally small compared to just the Earth, not to mention one star, not to mention billions of stars, not to mention the galaxies and the universe.

And it makes you wonder with David, why would God care about me? But He does.

It’s important to see that by the form of the question, David did not doubt that God was mindful of man; he simply said “You are mindful of him” and just wondered why.

That assured confidence that God IS mindful of us is significant. The grace of that truth amazed David like it should amaze us that God is mindful and does think about all human beings, that he is mindful of each of us personally.

The word “man” refers to how we are mortal, weak and frail. Our lives are like a vapor. We are transitory, here one moment and gone the next.

And yet, God is mindful of us, meaning that He remembers us. “Mindful” is a covenant term, indicating that He is committed to us and will never forget us.

Psalm 139:17-18 reads, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.”

Using the poetic method of repetition, David repeated the idea in another way in the second part of verse 4, asking, “and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

In other words, “What is the whole of humanity that God remembers them? What are people that God looks after them?”

The term “son of man” speaks to all mankind as well, and emphasizes our humanness. It means children of man, son of Adam, or any descendant of man, any one of the human race.

The first word “man” in this verse speaks of frailty and mortality, while “son of man” refers to our life that is derived from human ancestry.

And David wonders what son of Adam deserves such an exalted honor as to have God “visit” him? And the implied answer is that no son of man deserves this. There is nothing in any man that entitled him to this grace. Each of us are unworthy.

The word “visitest” is stronger than God being mindful of us. It means He cares for us and pays attention to us. And out of that care and attention, He comes close to us and visits us with His blessings, and He is always near.

David is stating that not only does God carefully think about and remember man, but that He also has a personal connection and contact with mankind. He both thinks about us and acts and works in our lives.

God is interested in every individual and He cares for us immensely! We matter to Majesty! God has a personal concern for every human being. No one is worthless.

And this was before Jesus Christ came to this world. David was amazed at God, the glorious Creator, just being mindful of us and caring for us in light of how small and insignificant we are in comparison to the heavens.

But it is even more mind-boggling that God’s Son actually VISITED this world and mankind and came to die on the Cross and rise again as the provision for our sins, that we might be saved from the lake of fire and be given eternal life.

That raises the bar even higher for each of us to exclaim, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”

Psalm 8:5-9: “For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

“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 beasts 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!”

David did not say that God made man a little higher than the animals. Instead, since man was made in the image of God, David rightly makes us look upward and not downward.

No matter what science or evolution says, man is not an animal or a higher animal. Man is not an animal at all. He is the very image of God, and nothing less.

In Genesis 1, we find that the fish, the birds, the creeping things, the cattle, the beasts of the field, and the beasts of the earth were all created “after their kinds.” But when God created man, He created him “after His own image.”

Only man received the breath of God. Only mankind has a spirit. Only mankind can actually communicate with God. Only mankind possesses the faculty of creative thought. In these things and others, mankind transcends far over the animal creation.

Mankind is a special creation of God. Mankind was created as the pinnacle and crown of God’s creative work. Man is the capstone of creation and God’s chief concern in His creation.

And when God made man, he made him a little lower than the angels, and this is evident in the way that man is beneath the angels in present glory, power, and nearness to God.

We are earthly creatures, made out of the dust of the earth. The angels are spiritual, heavenly beings. We are made lower than these heavenly beings, but notice only “a little lower.”

And also only for a LITTLE WHILE is mankind set a little lower than the angels. Man’s destiny is one day to possess a glory and honor that will surpass the angels.

It is the destiny of redeemed men and women to one day be lifted above the angels, and to rule over and judge them. As Paul told the Body in 1 Corinthians 6:3: “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?”

God’s glory is above the heavens; yet according to David, He put this same glory and honor on man as a crown. This is a reminder that man is made in God’s image, and we reflect God’s glory in ways other parts of the creation do not.

For example, God rules over mankind, and being made in the image of God, God has crowned man with glory and honor and gave us something to rule over, giving mankind dominion and authority to rule over His creation.

As Genesis 1:27-28 reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

In view of God’s greatness and man’s mortality and frailty, it was stunning to David that not only is God mindful of us and thinks about us, not only does God care for us, working in our lives and blessing us, but God has also entrusted His creation to mankind, giving mankind a great responsibility.

Yes, mankind is tiny in the universe. But he is significant in the eyes of God and he has a high purpose before Him. We are significant insignificance is the teaching of this psalm.

And to man God placed all living creatures under the control of Adam and Eve before the Fall, and when they fell, He did not withdraw this privilege.

He called mankind to have dominion over the “works of His hands.” We are stewards of the works of His hands. It belongs to Him as the Creator.

The dominion of man extends to all things, including sheep, oxen, beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. There was nothing that was not put under him.

However, as Hebrews 2:8 states, “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.”

Dominion over the creation is now only incompletely fulfilled among men. It’s because of sin that man’s dominion has never been fully realized, and why mankind has never been able to completely fulfill this responsibility for which God created him.

But one day, this dominion will be fulfilled in Jesus Christ. When Christ returns to the earth and brings all creation under His control when He reigns on the earth in His kingdom, those dwelling on the earth will be faithful stewards of God’s creation.

The psalm closes with a repetition of the psalmist’s amazement at God’s marvelous ways in entrusting so much responsibility to feeble and insignificant man: “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!”

When David thought about the dominion God had given to man, it made him praise God all over again.

That man, humble in light of being a creation of God, humble in light of the majesty of the universe, humble in being mortal and weak, humble in light of man’s present standing under angelic beings, that man should be given such authority over the creation is a demonstration of both the excellence and the goodness of God.

Psalm 8 is also Messianic and prophesies and points forward to Jesus Christ fulfilling many of these things in His earthly millennial reign.

In Christ’s kingdom the Lord’s name will be excellent “in all the earth.” His glorious name will be worshipped and exalted universally around the world.

Like the little children in the Temple who sang their Hosannas to the Son of David, Israel’s King, when Christ appeared there during his earthly ministry, this foreshadowed this coming praise in the kingdom which will be borne “out of the mouth of babes and sucklings,” and those with similar childlike faith.

Christ will “still” and silence the enemy and the avenger of Christ in that day.

Those in the kingdom will be amazed by the second coming of Christ to establish His kingdom and will utter the words “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him.”

Christ will visit Israel and care for her, and His presence will remain as He establishes His worldwide kingdom.

Like man was made a little lower than the angels, the author of Hebrews wrote, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

Christ was made a little lower than the angels when He as God became a man and lived as a man for 33 years on this earth. Following His suffering of death and perfect payment for sin, and His ascension, He was crowned with glory and honor.

God will make Him to have dominion over God’s creation, and as the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:27 in reference to this Psalm, “For he hath put all things under his feet.” In His earthly kingdom, the entire creation will be in subjection to Him: all the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea.

And under His rule, His name will be excellent in all the earth!