The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"LORD," Hebrew YHWH (יהוה), the covenant name. The psalm is bracketed by the same adoring cry, opening (v1) and closing (v9): "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" Everything in between is held within this frame of worship. David addresses God by His covenant name YHWH, the name by which God has bound Himself to His people.

"our Lord," Adoneinu (אֲדֹנֵינוּ), our Sovereign, Master. He confesses Him also as "our Lord," our Sovereign. This framing teaches us that the right beginning and end of all reflection is worship: we start and finish by adoring the greatness of God. Before David considers man's dignity, he bows before God's majesty; and after, he returns to the same adoration. All true theology and self-understanding are set within worship.

"excellent," addir (אַדִּיר), majestic, glorious, mighty. The excellency, the majesty, of God's name fills "all the earth". And it is majestic beyond compare.

"name," shem (שֵׁם). The "name" of God stands for all that He is, His character, His nature, His revealed self. The whole earth is stamped with the excellency of God's name, and the fitting response is not analysis alone but praise: how majestic is the name of the LORD!

"glory," hod (הוֹד), splendor, majesty. His glory is everywhere displayed in creation, and it reaches even "above the heavens," beyond the visible cosmos.

Explanation

The frame of worship is famous, but do not skip verse 2, which sits just inside it and turns the psalm on a hinge of paradox. God has "set thy glory above the heavens" (v1), higher than the stars; and how is that towering glory established down on earth? "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength" (v2). The majesty above the heavens is defended by the least powerful voices under them, infants at the breast. God stills "the enemy and the avenger" not with thunder but with a child's praise. It is the pattern that runs through all of Scripture, that God "hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1 Corinthians 1:27); the highest glory rests its case on the lowest lips.

Gospel Focus

"How excellent is thy name in all the earth!", the majestic name of the LORD is revealed most fully and made most excellent in Jesus Christ, in whom God has given the name above every name. The name of the LORD, so glorious in creation, took flesh and dwelt among us; and in His resurrection and ascension, "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow" (Philippians 2:9-10). The excellency of God's name is now proclaimed in "all the earth" through the Gospel, for Christ commanded that repentance and remission of sins be preached "among all nations" (Luke 24:47), that His name might fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. And in the Apostolic faith, the one glorious name of the LORD, YHWH, is revealed and confessed in the saving name of Jesus, "the LORD saves," for "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). To adore the excellent name of the LORD is, in the light of the Gospel, to bow before the name of Jesus, in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwells. The psalm's frame of worship becomes the church's song: from the rising of the sun to its going down, the name of the LORD, revealed in Christ, is to be praised. How excellent is that name in all the earth, and how blessed are all who call upon it and are saved.

Word Study

"man," Hebrew enosh (אֱנוֹשׁ), frail, mortal man. Gazing at the vast heavens, "the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained" (v3), David is overwhelmed by the contrast between the immensity of God's creation and the smallness of man. And out of that contrast comes the great question: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" The wonder is not merely that man is small, but that the God of such infinite majesty should give any thought to him at all. The same question Job asked in bitterness (Job 7:17), David asks in wonder.

"mindful," tizkerennu (תִזְכְּרֶנּוּ), remember, take thought of. Why should the Maker of galaxies be "mindful" of frail, mortal enosh? This is the marvel of divine condescension: the God whose glory is above the heavens stoops to remember and care for tiny, transient human beings. It is a humbling and exalting truth at once, humbling, because it reminds us how small we are; exalting, because it reveals how greatly we are loved.

"son of man," ben-adam (בֶּן־אָדָם). And the New Testament tells us this question finds its deepest answer in One who is both the object and the fulfillment of it: Jesus, the true Son of Man, in whom God did not merely visit man but became man.

"visitest," tifqedennu (תִפְקְדֶנּוּ), attend to, care for, visit. Why should He "visit," attend to, and care for the son of man? God was mindful of us to the uttermost, and He proved it by coming to us.

Explanation

Weigh the two verbs, for they move closer as they go. To be "mindful" (zakar) is to remember, to hold someone in thought; to "visit" (paqad) is to come to them, to attend in person. God does not merely think about man from a safe distance; He draws near. The wonder deepens from divine attention to divine approach. And notice the title David uses, "son of man" (ben-adam), which here simply means a mortal, a child of Adam, frail and of the dust. It is worth remembering that this lowly phrase became the name Jesus most often gave Himself. When the Lord called Himself "the Son of man," He was not first reaching for a crown but taking up this psalm's word for our smallness, planting Himself among the very creatures whose littleness the psalm marvels that God should notice at all.

Gospel Focus

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?", the New Testament answers this question by applying the whole passage to Jesus Christ, the true Son of Man. Hebrews quotes these very words and says, "we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour" (Hebrews 2:6-9). The wonder that God should be mindful of man reaches its climax in the incarnation: God became the Son of Man to save the sons of men. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14); God was "manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16). He did not merely visit us from afar, "the dayspring from on high hath visited us" (Luke 1:78), He took our very nature, made "a little lower than the angels," that He might taste death for us and lift us to glory. Here is the measure of how mindful God is of man: He gave His Son to become one of us and die for us. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). So when you wonder, standing beneath the stars, why the God of such majesty should care for you, look to the manger and the cross. The question "what is man?" is answered there: man is the creature God loved so much that He became man to redeem him. You are not lost in the vastness of the cosmos; you are known, remembered, visited, and loved by the God who made the stars and came in flesh to save you.

Word Study

"dominion," Hebrew tamshilehu (תַּמְשִׁילֵהוּ) from mashal, to rule, have dominion. David recalls the dignity God gave man at creation: "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." At creation God gave man a royal commission, to rule over the earth, the animals, the whole created order as God's vice-regent (Genesis 1:28). Man was crowned "with glory and honour" (v5), a little lower than the angels, yet given dominion.

"works," ma'asei (מַעֲשֵׂי). This is the true dignity of humanity: not that we are the accidental products of chance, but that we are the crowned rulers God appointed over His creation, made in His image to reign under Him. Yet we know that man's dominion was marred by the fall; sin fractured the crown, and creation groans under a broken rule.

"put," shattah (שַׁתָּה), placed, set. This is why the New Testament tells us the psalm's fullest meaning is not in fallen man but in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. Hebrews, quoting this verse, says, "thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet... But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus" (Hebrews 2:8-9).

"under his feet," tachat raglav (תַּחַת רַגְלָיו). The dominion Adam lost, Christ regained; the crown fallen man could not keep, the risen Son of Man wears. In Him, the psalm's vision of man crowned with glory and given dominion over all is gloriously fulfilled.

Explanation

The language here is royal. To be "crowned with glory and honour" (v5), to be given "dominion," to have "all things under his feet", these are the words of a coronation, not a mere job description. Psalm 8 reads the making of man in Genesis as an enthronement: the creature of dust is set on a throne over the works of God's hands, with sheep and oxen, beasts, birds, and "whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas" (v8) laid beneath him. But we must be honest that we do not obviously hold this crown now. Men drown in the seas they were to rule; beasts kill; creation resists and outlasts us. The dominion described here is one we can plainly see we have lost, which is exactly why the New Testament, quoting this psalm, looks past fallen man to say, "we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus" (Hebrews 2:8-9).

Gospel Focus

"Thou hast put all things under his feet", this is one of the most quoted verses of the New Testament, applied to the exalted Christ, in whom the dominion of the Son of Man is restored and fulfilled. Because Jesus, the true Man, obeyed where Adam failed and conquered where Adam fell, God "hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1:22). "He must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:25-27). The dominion Adam lost through sin, Christ has won back through obedience and resurrection, and He now reigns until every enemy is subdued. And here is the glory: because Christ reigns, His people reign with Him. The dominion given to man is restored not only in Christ the Head but, through Him, to all who are His: we are "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17), destined to "reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12), and "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne" (Revelation 3:21). The vision of Psalm 8, man crowned with glory and given dominion over all things, seemed lost in the ruin of the fall, but it is secured for ever in the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, and shared with all who are united to Him. Look not at fallen man's broken rule, but at Jesus, crowned with glory and honour, under whose feet God has put all things, and rejoice that in Him the crown is restored and the redeemed will reign for ever.