Who are we? What does it mean to be a human? This is a question that is asked in Psalm 8 by the writer. Looking at the immensity of creation, do we matter? Psalm 8 begins by observing the majesty of God. It says “1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” These two verses talk about the majesty and glory of God not only in the immensity of creation, but also his power in weakness.
In Matthew 21, there is a story of Jesus entering Jerusalem with the crowds shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” It seems that if you read the text carefully, that the children there that day thought this was great, and so they did not stop shouting. They just went right on following Jesus wherever he went and continued to shout out, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Jesus goes into the temple, clears the money changers, and he comes back out, and there the children are again shouting, “BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” The blind and the lame came to Jesus to be healed, and the children continued to shout out, “Hosanna in the highest!” Finally, the religious leaders had enough of these kids shouting, and they go to Jesus saying (Matthew 21:16), “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, quoting Psalm 8:2, “Yes; have you never read, “‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?”
Psalm 8:2 is about who? It is about the majesty of God being proclaimed by children. Who are the children shouting about when they say, “Hosanna to the Son of David; BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD; Hosanna in the highest!” They are talking about Jesus. Thus, when Jesus quotes Psalm 8:2 at that moment to the religious leaders, he is saying that he is the majestic Lord worthy of all praise. And, that they, the religious leaders, are the enemies of God.
Psalm 8 continues, verses 3 and 4, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” Many interpret this passage as talking about Jesus, mainly because Jesus often called himself “the son of man.” I don’t think that is the correct way to read this passage because of what verse 5 says; it reads, “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” Jesus is not a little lower than the heavenly beings, which causes me to read verses 3 and 4 as the Psalmist talking about himself. He is asking the question, “God, why do you care about me?” “In all of your majesty, who am I to you?” “What is man that you are mindful of him?”
This is an important question for today. This may be the most important question of our day. What is man? Our world would say that man (a human) is just a bit of cosmic dust turned into a biological organism that has evolved into a really fancy monkey. No more, no less. I think that one of the consequences of men and women seeing themselves, and others, as just another type of animal on this planet is that it is often how people behave and treat each other as beasts.
“What is man that you are mindful of him?” Who do you say I am God? Due to our modern ability to use telescopes and send people into space, how much more we should be in awe of what is being said here in Psalm 8. Our planet sits in a little corner of our galaxy, a galaxy that has over 100 billion stars, much more significant than our own. Through the Hubble Telescope, it is said, that another 350 billion other galaxies like our own have been identified. I cannot even begin to comprehend the size of our universe and thus, like the Psalmist, voice the question, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, four what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
Verse 5 provides the answer. “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.” When I read verse 5, I am reminded at how often Bible translators are often cowards, afraid of how radical is God’s Word. The phrase “heavenly beings” is not what the Hebrew reads, nor does it say “angels,” as other translations suggest. The Hebrew word used here is “Elohim,” which is the plural word for God (thus gods). It is the same word used for God in Genesis 1:26 and 27 which reads, “26 Then God (Elohim) said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 And God (Elohim) created man in His own image, in the image of God (Elohim) He created him; male and female He created them.”
The question “what is man?” is answered by looking back to the creation when man and woman are made in the image of God. Being made in the image of God is our crown and glory. Being the image of God is who we are; it is what makes us unique and different from all of creation. There is something more to us that is not of this world, something that is more than flesh and blood. We are made to know God, we are made to live in relationship with Him, and we are made to live with Him forever. And being His image bearer, we have a responsibility in and to this creation that no other created creature has been given as read in verses 6 to 8; “You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.”
Sin has caused us to understand the word “dominion” to mean the right to exploit. That is sin speaking. Being the image-bearer of God in this world, the word “dominion” means the reasonability of care. We are to care for this world, not to worship it, not to exploit it, but to care for it. Why, for what reason? For the glory of the Lord as voiced in verse 9, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”
You are made in the image of God. Thus, in all of creation, you are unique. God cares about you. There is no such thing as a person who is too small or too insignificant to God. He cares about you. Also, being made in the image of God means that you have been given responsibility in this world to care for it in such a way that God is glorified.
Grace and Peace, Pastor Trent Eastman
Concerning the Word of Life 