Psa 8:1 To the Chief Musician. On the Instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
Psa 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
Psa 8:3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
Psa 8:4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?
Psa 8:5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
Psa 8:6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
Psa 8:7 All sheep and oxen— Even the beasts of the field,
Psa 8:8 The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.
Psa 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

The first half of Psalms 8 praised God’s power. God has “set His glory above the heavens”. God has ordained strength from children. God silences the enemy. God has created the solar system.

The second half of Psalms 8, using God’s awesome power as a base, then marvels at how God relates to human beings. God is the powerful creator of the solar system, yet God is mindful of man. Man is lower than the angels, yet God visits man! God created the world, but He gave man dominion.

God is personal and relational to human beings. For this, the Psalm writer proclaims: “How excellent is Your name in all the earth!”

HT: Jeff Thomas