Psalm 8
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 You have made sure that children
and infants praise you.
Their praise is a wall
that stops the talk of your enemies.
3 I think about the heavens.
I think about what your fingers have created.
I think about the moon and stars
that you have set in place.
4 What are human beings that you think about them?
What is a son of man that you take care of him?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels.
You placed on them a crown of glory and honour.
6 You made human beings rule over everything your hands created.
You put everything under their control.
7 They rule over all flocks and herds
and over the wild animals.
8 They rule over the birds in the sky
and over the fish in the ocean.
They rule over everything that swims in the oceans.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
8:1–9 Psalm 8 praises God for being the creator of everything that exists. God created the heavens. This includes the heavenly world and spiritual beings like angels. The heavens also include the sky with the moon and stars. Genesis chapter 1 describes God making the lights in the sky. He made them to be rulers over the day and the night. They make sure that time and seasons work the way God wants them to. Psalm 19 explains what happens when the sky does the work God gave it to do. The sun, moon and stars obey God's commands about keeping day and night separate. That is how they tell everyone on earth about God's glory. It's how they show that the name of the Lord is majestic in the earth. Having a majestic name means that God is great and wonderful. It means that God deserves honour everywhere on earth. It means that God has complete power and authority over everything. God chooses to share his authority with human beings. Psalm 8 describes this as a crown that God placed on them. The crown is a sign that human beings are to be rulers. They are to be rulers over everything else that God created on earth. They are to make sure that what God wants done happens on earth. That is how they honour God and show that his name is majestic.