Psalm 8
Your Name Is Majestic
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For the choir director. According to gittith.[a] A psalm by David.
The Glory of God Declared by the Heavens
The Glory of God Declared by Children
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Set this glory of yours above the heavens.[b]
2 From the lips of little children and nursing babies
you have established strength[c] because of your foes,
to put a stop to the enemy and the avenger.
The Glory of the Son of Man
3 Whenever I look up at your heavens, the works of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place—
4 what is man that you remember him,
the son of man[d] that you pay attention to him!
5 Nevertheless, you make him suffer need,
apart from God for a while,[e]
but you crown him with glory and honor.
6 You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.
You put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and cattle, and even the wild animals,
8 the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
which pass through the currents of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Footnotes
- Psalm 8:1 Gittith means in the style of Gath. Gath is a city name. It also means winepress. The term seems to refer to a musical style associated with Gath or perhaps to the name of a melody.
- Psalm 8:1 The grammar of the line is difficult.
- Psalm 8:2 The Greek Old Testament and Matthew 21:16 read prepared praise.
- Psalm 8:4 Or the Son of Man, or the Son of Adam. Hebrews 2:6 makes it clear that Jesus is the Son of Adam who fulfills this prophecy. Jesus’ title, the Son of Man, however, is based on Daniel 7:13 rather than on this verse. Here and in Daniel 7:13 it seems that the term son of man is not yet a formal title. It is the poetic parallel of the term man.
- Psalm 8:5 This very important verse is difficult and has been the subject of a number of interpretations. A literal rendering of the Hebrew reads: You made him lack—God—a little. This could be paraphrased with Luther: You let him be forsaken by God for a little while. The translation above follows Luther in understanding this as a reference to Jesus’ humiliation. The Greek translation of the Old Testament interprets the Hebrew word elohim, which usually means god, as a reference to godlike beings, namely, the angels: You made him a little lower [or lower for a little while] than the angels. Hebrews 2:7 quotes this translation. In either interpretation the point is the same: Jesus endured humiliation while he was on earth acting as our Savior. The fact that he needed help from the angels is one evidence of this.