I fell in love with the 8th Psalm when I was in college. It was used as the text for a song that our chamber choir sang entitled, “The Majesty and Glory of Your Name.” I had read the text before that time, but it wasn’t until then that I really latched onto the scope of this short psalm’s depth. Tom Fettke, the song’s composer, brilliantly captured the wonder of this passage and set it to music in a way that God used to speak directly to my soul.
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
Verse one is a first person declaration to God of His Lordship over all creation, and it is expressed in such an intimate way. The psalmist (David) could have said, “O Lord, your majestic name fills the earth…” But instead he added the possessive phrase, “our Lord,” in there to underscore that the King of the Universe was indeed the Lord of his life and our lives as well. Can you say that too, about your relationship with God?
You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.
From the time we are born, we have an intrinsic understanding that we are not the master of our destiny; that there is Someone much higher and greater than us Who is in control. Just looking at a sonogram or ultrasound image in the early stages of pregnancy is all that one needs to be reminded of God’s strength. Who can compare to His abilities? No one can, and even the youngest of babies, in all their frailty represent the incomparable power and supreme strength of our Lord.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are people that you should think about them, mere mortals that you should care for them?
I love these two verses! They put all of humanity in its place in such a simple way. When we stand outside and look at the sky at night, all the shimmering stars totaling higher than we can count, and the astounding phases of the moon in all its splendor, we are confronted with the reality of God’s vastness and the truth of our puniness. We are smaller than an ant in contrast to God, yet He still notices and even cares for us. That is absolutely mind blowing to me! The Being that so methodically hung each and every star in place, throughout our galaxy and beyond, actually has me on His mind as well. I cannot comprehend the enormity of that, but it makes me love and trust Him implicitly.
Verses 5-8 speak of the position or status that God has granted to us, deeming us only a little lower than Himself or His angels. Again, I cannot fathom being treated and seen worthy of such honor (knowing how undeserving I am). Trying to wrap a finite mind around such thoughts left David with no words to say to close the psalm other than to re-emphasize His awe of God once again by repeating the sentiment with which he opened the psalm: “O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!” I agree!