Psalm 8: A Song of Praise for the Creator

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.

[Preliminary Notes: In the title, the word ‘gittith’ has produced much speculation with no definite outcome. As already seen with Psa 4,5 & 6 this is clearly written for musical accompaniment, a song. It is a remarkably simple and straight forward song of praise in respect of the Creator of the heavens and earth.]

v.1 The Wonder of Creation reveal’s God’s glory

v.1 Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory
    in the heavens.

v.2 Even children can see it in their simplicity, a bulwark against negative comment

v.2 Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.

v.3 The wonder of the stars at night set me wondering

v.3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,

v.4 If God made this immensity, why is He mindful of puny human beings?

v.4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?

v.5 The reality is that they are not as great as angels, but….

v.5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honor.

v.6-8 ….God has made them rulers over the rest of the earth

v.6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their feet
v.7 all flocks and herds,
    and the animals of the wild,
v.8 the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

v.9 How great He is when you think on all this

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

[Additional Thoughts: The flow or logic of this psalm is beautifully simple:

• David the shepherd, watching his flocks at night gazes at the night sky.
• He can’t help wondering about the vastness of what he sees in this sky free of light pollution.
• If God created all of this, He is incredible in might and power, so why would He want to create puny human beings, less than specks in the universe?
• These human beings are not as great, powerful and mighty as the angels appear to be… so why? And yet these human beings have such potential to rule over the earth, to do good or bad.
• This says so much more about God than merely thinking about Him as One who just molds atoms and molecules like a Potter. His greatness isn’t just in terms of muscle power!
• This wonder stirs music and praise in David’s soul, there in the night.

After perhaps going back and meditating on individual verses, now read it meaningfully out loud straight through:

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?^]

⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels
    and crowned them with glory and honour.
⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
    you put everything under their^] 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!

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: