Dale Partridge - Psalm 8 How Excellent Is Your Name

00:00:00.000 Amen. Praise God for the liturgy that we have. I'm always drawn to deep worship every time

00:00:14.460 we go through our Sunday morning liturgy. This morning we will be going through Psalms

00:00:23.180 8, and I hope to offer an exegetical understanding of this psalm. As we open this morning, I want

00:00:31.560 to ask a few questions to help us get in the right frame of mind as we're studying Psalms

00:00:37.080 8 this morning. What does it mean for us to be human? Are we merely insignificant specks

00:00:50.220 in the universe or do we hold a special place in creation does humanity possess inherent worth

00:01:02.120 from god these questions have troubled philosophers theologians and ordinary people for centuries

00:01:12.680 Some claim that we're nothing more than cosmic accidents, the result of blind evolutionary

00:01:21.920 processes over millions and millions of years, with no ultimate meaning or purpose.

00:01:31.240 In the modern age, where science dominates much of our worldview, many accept the idea

00:01:38.900 that we are merely a by-product of millions of years of random evolutionary progress,

00:01:46.040 descended from apes with no divine imprint or original design.

00:01:52.680 One scientist remarked, quote,

00:01:55.420 It's impossible to look an ape in the eye and not see oneself.

00:02:01.020 Looking back at you is not so much an animal, but a personality as solid and willful as yourself.

00:02:10.460 This way of thinking leads naturally to a diminished view of human worth.

00:02:21.900 If we are merely highly evolved animals, then our value is not intrinsic, but arbitrary.

00:02:34.340 Our value is determined by what we can contribute, how strong we are, or what society decides that we are worth. 0.53

00:02:43.220 such thinking is fueled eugenics abortion and dehumanization of the weak and the vulnerable

00:02:53.320 if man is nothing more than another species in the animal kingdom

00:03:00.260 then there is no reason why we should treat one another

00:03:03.560 with any regard with any sort of higher value than another animal

00:03:09.580 on the other hand humanism exalts man to a position of near divinity

00:03:22.080 rejecting god in favor of human potential and self-determination

00:03:27.900 it teaches that we are masters of our own fate haven't you heard this over and over

00:03:34.960 that you're the master of your own fate,

00:03:38.140 that you're architects of your own morality,

00:03:41.140 and that the ultimate measure of truth and goodness lies with you.

00:03:46.780 It's subjective.

00:03:49.360 It's not eternal.

00:03:52.120 Truth is whatever I say truth is today.

00:03:55.760 That's humanism.

00:03:59.800 Both of these views distort reality.

00:04:04.960 And they fail to recognize true human dignity, which is not found in our own ability or status, but found in something eternal.

00:04:16.400 True human dignity, value, and worth is found within God alone.

00:04:26.000 Psalms 8 does a good job in challenging both of these errors in our modern day.

00:04:34.960 It reminds us that man is both small, yet significant.

00:04:40.940 Humbled, yet honored.

00:04:44.620 Meager, yet majestic.

00:04:48.760 Dust, yet dignified.

00:04:54.340 It tells us that our true worth is found not in ourselves, but in God.

00:05:00.300 Now, David in this psalm calls us to lift our eyes upward,

00:05:07.800 to behold the majesty of God and in delight of the light that he shines in us,

00:05:15.040 to understand our own place in this world.

00:05:19.580 The psalm moves in a deliberate progression.

00:05:22.980 It begins by declaring God's surpassing glory and majesty.

00:05:26.720 it then turns to consider our role in his creation and then it ultimately points forward

00:05:35.700 to jesus christ the one who perfectly fulfills the purpose of humanity

00:05:42.180 in doing so psalm 8 provides a right view of god a right view of humanity and a clear picture of

00:05:51.420 our duty of dominion under God's authority. It reminds us that while we're made in God's image,

00:06:00.760 we are still dependent on him for our significance and purpose. And most importantly,

00:06:09.500 Psalms 8 directs our attention to Jesus Christ, the perfect man who restores all that was lost

00:06:17.140 and Adam. This psalm begins with a declaration of God's greatness, framing everything that

00:06:25.640 follows within the context of his supreme majesty. It sets the foundation of our understanding

00:06:31.700 of who we are by first revealing who God is. So if you have your Bibles with you,

00:06:39.800 Please open them to Psalms, chapter 8.

00:06:44.660 We'll be beginning in verse 1.

00:06:48.720 Psalms, chapter 8, beginning in verse 1.

00:06:54.720 It opens with this declaration.

00:06:58.120 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth,

00:07:04.400 who have set your glory above the heavens.

00:07:07.180 This verse clarifies that the central theme of this psalm is that God is a majestic God.

00:07:20.680 It acknowledges both his covenantal faithfulness and sovereign rule over his creation.

00:07:29.580 The psalmist begins with two distinct names for God right at the very beginning.

00:07:35.220 He says, O Lord, our Lord.

00:07:39.320 If you notice in your Bibles, the first Lord is all caps.

00:07:44.380 L-O-R-D is all caps.

00:07:46.820 Whenever you see this in your Bible, it should give you a little warning sign in your brain. 0.54

00:07:52.700 That this name is the name Yahweh.

00:07:57.400 It's God's covenantal name that he gave to Moses when he said, I am that I am.

00:08:05.220 L-O-R-D in all caps means Yahweh.

00:08:10.560 But Lord, with a capital L but not the other letters capitalized,

00:08:15.880 means Adonai.

00:08:18.720 So if you read this in the Hebrew, it says,

00:08:20.960 O Yahweh our Adonai.

00:08:24.200 Adonai means Master or Lord.

00:08:29.320 It means the ruler of everything.

00:08:31.700 this is important because in hebrew whenever someone is given a name

00:08:38.460 that name is significant it matters it's not random in america we name our kids

00:08:48.120 after our ancestors or after a cool name that we think sounds good not so in hebrew cultures

00:08:56.960 When they named their children, they named them with purpose and significance.

00:09:03.780 It mattered.

00:09:06.000 God's name matters too.

00:09:08.820 It has significance and purpose.

00:09:12.340 It tells us something about who he is and what he's like.

00:09:16.240 And God himself defines his own name.

00:09:19.240 In Exodus 34, starting in verse 5, God tells us what his name means.

00:09:30.940 It says,

00:09:33.000 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, talking to Moses,

00:09:37.520 and proclaimed the name of the Lord.

00:09:40.320 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,

00:09:42.980 The Lord, the Lord, all caps, both times, meaning Yahweh,

00:09:48.520 The Yahweh.

00:09:51.820 A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

00:10:01.000 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

00:10:08.060 But who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the

00:10:14.020 children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation.

00:10:23.320 What does Yahweh mean?

00:10:27.740 It means that he is a God who is slow to anger.

00:10:33.380 He's a God who abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.

00:10:37.560 he's a god who forgives sin and iniquity to the 1000th generation

00:10:44.140 but who is always just and will visit sin and iniquity to the third and fourth generation

00:10:53.100 in our western mind all we hear is that latter part how can god punish sin to the third and

00:11:01.200 fourth generation. We totally skip the whole beginning, where he declares that he forgives

00:11:08.200 sin and iniquity to the 1,000th generation. We always want to highlight his justice in

00:11:17.140 order to find some sort of weakness in God, rather than looking at how merciful he is.

00:11:22.940 how gracious he is when david declares in psalms 8

00:11:31.280 oh lord our lord how majestic is your name

00:11:35.000 in all the earth he's reminding himself and all who read this psalm

00:11:40.980 about this god yahweh god the god who forgives our sin

00:11:50.360 who is gracious, is steadfast in his love for his people.

00:11:59.700 He's reminding us that this is the God who created the universe

00:12:03.560 and you and everything else.

00:12:15.920 To declare God's name is excellent.

00:12:18.160 is to acknowledge that there is no name that is greater.

00:12:25.580 No king, no ruler, no power, no authority

00:12:31.580 is greater than God's name.

00:12:37.460 This finds its ultimate fulfillment

00:12:39.780 in the name of Christ.

00:12:43.480 Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Philippians 2.

00:12:46.720 Philippians 2, verses 9 through 11.

00:12:55.020 It says,

00:12:57.100 Therefore God has highly exalted him

00:12:59.900 and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

00:13:04.760 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow

00:13:08.700 in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

00:13:12.260 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

00:13:21.560 Philippians 2, 9-11 expands the truth that God's name is above every name

00:13:27.840 by revealing that Jesus' name is highly exalted

00:13:31.900 and given that name which is above every other.

00:13:35.140 This means that every church, every pulpit, every ministry, and every believer

00:13:48.020 has to be centered on exalting Christ and Christ alone.

00:13:56.080 The church is not built on personalities.

00:14:00.220 It's not built on programs or preferences.

00:14:05.140 the church is built on the lordship of Jesus Christ

00:14:10.040 and his sovereign dominion over the earth.

00:14:14.840 True worship happens when God's people gather together

00:14:18.800 not to entertain themselves,

00:14:21.360 but to worship the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

00:14:28.220 This should shape our preaching.

00:14:30.920 When we preach, we must exalt Christ.

00:14:37.340 This should shape our singing.

00:14:40.880 When we sing, we can't sing songs that worship man, like many worship songs today do.

00:14:48.740 We have to sing songs that worship Christ.

00:14:55.560 This should affect your daily life. 0.71

00:14:57.760 Moms, when you cook a great dinner, you should do so for the glory of Jesus Christ and for exalting his name.

00:15:10.220 Husbands, when you work hard and get that promotion, you should do so not for your own glory, but for the exaltation of Jesus Christ.

00:15:20.740 if every knee will bow one day to christ then we in the church must learn how to joyfully

00:15:33.180 bow down before our lord today we are to disciple the world in this

00:15:41.980 that christ's name is above the heavens

00:15:44.420 that at his name, we bow.

00:15:49.500 It's part of the reason why we kneel.

00:15:52.440 God is so holy, so we must bow down.

00:16:00.360 If man's chief end is to glorify God,

00:16:03.600 then the church must be the greatest display

00:16:06.320 of that glory on the earth.

00:16:10.500 When we gather in worship,

00:16:12.040 We proclaim to the world that Christ is Lord, his name is above all, and he alone is worthy of our lives.

00:16:24.740 Worship is not about us. It's about him.

00:16:29.540 The question is, are we living and worshiping in a way that rightly magnifies the name of Christ?

00:16:39.000 psalms 8 is really a call to worship

00:16:43.580 it really is a call for you to worship god rightly

00:16:50.500 do you do this in your daily life

00:16:54.260 or is god on the back burner

00:16:58.240 these are questions we have to answer

00:17:03.440 verse two of psalm eight

00:17:09.520 out of the mouth of babes and nurse nursing infants you have ordained strength because of

00:17:18.360 your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the avenger

00:17:22.860 following this great exaltation that we see in verse one david now highlights a surpassing truth

00:17:33.820 That God establishes strength, not through displays of overwhelming power,

00:17:38.840 but through the voices of the weak.

00:17:45.380 This verse reveals a central theme in Scripture.

00:17:49.800 That God uses the weak to shame the strong.

00:17:54.320 In human thinking, we often associate strength with power or wisdom or status.

00:18:04.720 But God's way is not like this.

00:18:09.200 He ordains strength through the praises of the weak and dependent,

00:18:13.860 showing that his power is made perfect in weakness, as Paul says.

00:18:18.920 Jesus himself quoted this verse in Matthew 21 verse 16

00:18:25.700 when the chief priests and the scribes were indignant

00:18:29.500 that the children were crying out

00:18:32.160 Hosanna to the son of David

00:18:34.560 while the religious leaders rejected Christ

00:18:39.480 the children instinctively

00:18:42.360 recognized his greatness

00:18:45.080 and worshipped him

00:18:47.500 this demonstrates a truth that prideful rebellion is silenced by humble faith

00:19:00.040 the phrase that you may silence the enemy and the avenger further reinforces this theme

00:19:09.480 that god's enemies are not defeated by human strength or argumentation

00:19:14.900 these things are good i love them i love apologetics i love it when a man is strong

00:19:24.080 and when we have robust thinking and theological defenses for the truths that we profess in the

00:19:30.160 church there's nothing wrong with these things but when you come against pride and arrogance

00:19:37.120 and those who want to lift themselves up as arbiters of god's truth the only thing that

00:19:44.420 defeats those arguments is childlike faith. God does not require human greatness to accomplish

00:19:58.780 his purposes. In fact, he delights in using the weak and overlooked to advance his kingdom.

00:20:07.760 God works through the humble, not the powerful.

00:20:15.440 What the world often dismisses as insignificant, God chooses as an instrument of glory.

00:20:23.840 Throughout scripture, we see this pattern.

00:20:28.560 God exalts the lowly and brings down the proud.

00:20:33.540 True spiritual strength is not found in intelligence or status or human might, but in childlike faith.

00:20:47.340 You want to know the type of faith that's required in the kingdom of heaven?

00:20:51.940 Look to your children in the way that they trust you.

00:20:57.680 They trust you with everything.

00:20:59.540 They don't doubt that you're going to feed them today.

00:21:06.380 That you have a warm bed at home waiting for them.

00:21:11.800 That when they're hurt, you're going to kiss their boo-boos.

00:21:18.500 That as they grow, you will never stop loving them.

00:21:24.020 They don't doubt these things about you.

00:21:26.460 And it's this type of faith that Jesus requires of the church.

00:21:33.900 We, in our faith to our Heavenly Father, cannot doubt that He will provide for us.

00:21:41.460 That He will care for us.

00:21:44.200 That He loves us.

00:21:46.180 And will be there for us as we stumble and as we fall.

00:21:49.740 this truth naturally leads to the next section of psalm 8 where david shifts his focus from god's

00:22:03.980 power displayed in human weakness to the vastness of creation and man's place within that creation

00:22:12.140 You can imagine David standing outside, looking up at this beautiful night sky

00:22:19.200 and all the glory of the heavens, and writes down exactly what he sees.

00:22:26.820 And then he asks one of the most profound questions in all of Scripture.

00:22:33.960 What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

00:22:39.740 Let's read verses 3 through 5 together.

00:22:42.140 when i consider your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars which you have

00:22:52.940 ordained what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him

00:22:59.080 for you have made him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned him with glory and honor

00:23:06.760 the enormity of the heavens

00:23:13.660 is overwhelming to David in this psalm

00:23:18.420 it's a reminder of God's power and ultimate majesty

00:23:23.460 but instead of leading David to despair

00:23:28.440 at his own insignificance or his own smallness

00:23:32.500 in relation to the created heavens

00:23:34.860 It causes David to marvel.

00:23:41.480 In comparison to the cosmos, humanity seems small and fragile.

00:23:47.980 Yet God is mindful of us.

00:23:52.700 He does not merely acknowledge our existence.

00:23:57.480 He visits us, cares for us, and invests in humanity.

00:24:04.860 This is not a lament, but a statement of wonder.

00:24:12.120 Why would a God who is so great take notice of creatures so small?

00:24:22.560 Yet despite our smallness, God has given us incredible dignity.

00:24:27.680 For you have made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor.

00:24:36.960 Humanity occupies a unique position in creation.

00:24:42.020 Higher than the animals, yet lower than divine beings.

00:24:49.760 We are neither insignificant nor supreme.

00:24:54.640 Rather, we have been crowned with glory and honor by our Maker.

00:25:03.680 We've been entrusted with a role that reflects the very image of God in creation.

00:25:11.900 We reflect God in the way that we have dominion over the earth.

00:25:18.200 But that's not all that we reflect God in.

00:25:20.980 John Calvin, in his Institutes, locates the image of God within the soul of human beings, not in our bodies.

00:25:34.460 Your bodies are an extension of the image of God, but the central focus of the image is within your soul.

00:25:45.120 Your soul reflects God.

00:25:50.980 this verse finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ,

00:25:59.900 who is the greatest image bearer.

00:26:04.200 He is the perfect image of God,

00:26:08.180 the only physical example of God that we have.

00:26:13.720 This verse finds its ultimate fulfillment in Him.

00:26:18.500 We read it this morning.

00:26:19.960 in our cross-reference for this verse,

00:26:23.480 Hebrews 2, 6-9.

00:26:26.500 The author of Hebrews quotes this verse directly

00:26:29.480 and ties it to Jesus Christ.

00:26:34.780 Though Jesus took on human flesh,

00:26:38.100 humbling himself,

00:26:40.380 he was ultimately exalted above all of creation.

00:26:45.540 He is the firstborn.

00:26:47.100 he redeemed all that was lost in Adam

00:26:52.360 through him we find redemption

00:26:55.720 this passage warns against the two errors of humanity that we discussed

00:27:05.540 at the beginning on the one hand we must reject humanism

00:27:10.840 which over-inflates man's value

00:27:14.600 and seeks to place him at the center of the universe.

00:27:19.720 Humanism has no regard for God.

00:27:23.600 It has no idea of who he is,

00:27:27.000 of how powerful and majestic he is.

00:27:30.920 They never ask the question,

00:27:33.060 who is man, that you are mindful of him.

00:27:38.220 They care only about humankind.

00:27:40.840 and making him divine.

00:27:46.260 On the other hand, we must also reject naturalism and materialism,

00:27:51.140 which reduce man to nothing more than advanced animals with no intrinsic worth.

00:27:59.100 Why would you ever feed a homeless person?

00:28:02.700 They're just an ape who learned to stand upright.

00:28:04.580 Why would you ever care about the weak or the lowly on the earth?

00:28:14.580 They're just another part of the animal kingdom.

00:28:19.660 Atheism's morality is bankrupt. 0.99

00:28:23.400 Because it's got its basis in this understanding.

00:28:29.820 That we are nothing more than skin and bones.

00:28:33.340 but not eternal souls.

00:28:38.880 It gives you no morality,

00:28:41.980 no justice,

00:28:44.920 no firm foundation on which to believe.

00:28:50.360 This is why truth is relative in our time.

00:28:55.240 This is why we don't know right from wrong.

00:28:59.460 This is why we've had millions of babies

00:29:02.260 aborted in our country.

00:29:08.280 We need a return 0.99

00:29:10.140 to a biblical understanding

00:29:12.740 of human beings.

00:29:16.520 You are valuable because

00:29:18.280 the image of God is within you.

00:29:23.060 You are valuable

00:29:24.400 because God has placed you above

00:29:26.400 creation so that you may rule

00:29:28.440 over creation.

00:29:32.260 You are not an ape. 1.00

00:29:36.160 Christians cannot believe in evolution

00:29:38.300 and be consistent Christians. 0.98

00:29:42.360 It's not something that's open to you. 1.00

00:29:46.500 Don't read millions and millions and millions of years

00:29:49.500 into the creation narrative.

00:29:51.660 It's not there.

00:29:55.060 It removes Christian morality

00:29:57.220 and undermines the authority of the Scriptures. 0.64

00:30:01.780 It's called eisegesis.

00:30:04.700 And we hate it.

00:30:07.880 Allow the text to inform what you believe about human beings.

00:30:14.880 About God.

00:30:16.840 And about the way that he made the world.

00:30:19.460 If you do that, you will come away with a right understanding.

00:30:25.040 Of your worth and your place in creation.

00:30:30.920 Let's move on to verses 6 through 8.

00:30:42.560 You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands.

00:30:47.020 You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen,

00:30:52.820 even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air,

00:30:55.940 and the fish of the sea that passes through the paths of the sea.

00:31:03.540 Having established humanity's dignity and purpose,

00:31:08.380 David now turns to give us the responsibility that was given to mankind.

00:31:15.460 This passage echoes the creation narrative in Genesis 1, 26-28.

00:31:21.760 where God created man in his image

00:31:26.660 and then commissioned him to rule over everything.

00:31:31.460 He wasn't commissioned to rule as a tyrant.

00:31:37.320 God commissioned human beings

00:31:40.140 to rule like him.

00:31:44.960 As stewards of the earth.

00:31:48.500 As lovers of what he made.

00:31:51.760 he didn't put us as dominion takers

00:31:57.360 so that we could recklessly exploit the earth

00:31:59.880 and all who are in it. 0.54

00:32:03.320 This is the way of the demonic kingdom.

00:32:07.240 This is the way of the world.

00:32:10.760 The way of Christ brings restoration to the earth.

00:32:15.880 Christians bring restoration to towns and to cities.

00:32:22.720 Christians are the one who restore this earth, not destroy it.

00:32:32.140 We are not to be like the world in this.

00:32:38.020 We are not to spend our days exploiting others for gain.

00:32:46.640 For you to be a true, godly dominion-taker of the earth,

00:32:51.120 Your dominion ought to bless the earth.

00:32:56.200 It ought to bless your neighbor, and your friend, and your church, and your local community.

00:33:08.960 Instead of ruling as faithful stewards, humanity often abuses creation and advocates our responsibility.

00:33:18.240 Somebody else can take care of it.

00:33:21.120 We don't have to.

00:33:25.800 Our failure to rule rightly is evident

00:33:28.180 both in environmental destruction

00:33:30.280 and societal chaos.

00:33:35.160 It's clear when you look at the earth

00:33:37.380 and how badly we've destroyed it

00:33:39.040 and how terrible society can be

00:33:41.980 that sin is present in the world.

00:33:47.100 That we do not rule as we ought to.

00:33:51.120 if we are to take our example from Jesus Christ and rule as he does,

00:33:55.880 the world would not look the way that it does.

00:34:00.920 This is not to say that your responsibility as Christians is to waste your life saving the lions in Africa.

00:34:10.420 Through faithful gospel preaching and taking over the world for Christ,

00:34:16.480 you will save the lions in Africa, but not because you made them the priority. 0.95

00:34:21.120 Christians in our time are confusing 1.00

00:34:27.280 the original dominion mandate for the new one 1.00

00:34:30.940 that we received in Matthew

00:34:32.780 where Jesus tells us to go into all the earth

00:34:36.900 to baptize the nations

00:34:39.400 to tell them all that Jesus taught and to obey it

00:34:43.600 this is the new dominion mandate

00:34:47.600 this is what you are to spend your life doing

00:34:52.460 it doesn't look the same for everybody

00:34:56.180 but it's still our purpose as a church

00:35:00.520 don't waste your life

00:35:03.300 preserving trees

00:35:07.340 when you could be sharing the gospel

00:35:09.760 don't waste your life

00:35:13.960 caring about the carbon monoxide levels in the atmosphere

00:35:18.860 when people need to know Jesus.

00:35:23.080 You have to understand that through gospel preaching,

00:35:26.460 that gospel preaching is efficacious to change the world.

00:35:32.060 That when you get a right biblical morality,

00:35:35.260 you're not going to continue to live the same way we have before.

00:35:39.680 All things will be restored in Christ

00:35:42.140 and we are to spend our days serving that kingdom.

00:35:49.100 I can't imagine standing before God someday and saying,

00:35:52.780 yes, I served you faithfully.

00:35:54.620 I tied myself to trees.

00:35:58.840 I cared about ants in South America

00:36:02.900 when there were orphans who were starving,

00:36:08.260 widows who needed care.

00:36:12.140 and the lost and dying going to hell, and I did nothing.

00:36:16.420 I can't imagine God is going to say,

00:36:19.500 well done, good and faithful servant.

00:36:28.300 Lastly, as we wrap up this sermon,

00:36:34.780 we read the same verse that this passage opened up with.

00:36:43.960 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth.

00:36:53.160 Psalm 8 concludes just as it began, with a declaration of worship.

00:36:58.560 This repetition serves as a reminder of everything else that David has reflected on.

00:37:09.640 God's majesty, human dignity, and the duty of dominion in the earth.

00:37:17.840 All of this ultimately points to the greatness and majestic nature of God.

00:37:24.280 the psalmist begins by exalting God's supreme glory above the heavens and then framing the

00:37:33.880 entire psalm as a call to worship when you see the heavens you should worship

00:37:40.680 when you see the authority and dignity that God has placed in humanity you ought to worship

00:37:48.120 when you see how all these things find their fulfillment in christ you ought to worship

00:37:55.260 all of creation testifies to god's power and wisdom and our response should be no different

00:38:06.020 as we reflect on this psalm we must recognize that both our identity

00:38:13.880 and our purpose are found in the glory of God.

00:38:20.800 The Westminster Confession asks a very good question.

00:38:25.760 What is the chief end of man?

00:38:29.440 You all know it because I can hear you whispering it.

00:38:32.780 To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

00:38:40.780 It gives us the right view of God.

00:38:43.880 Psalms 8 gives us the right view of God, that he's majestic, that he's sovereign,

00:38:50.880 that he's above everything that you can see with your eyes.

00:38:57.100 It also gives us the right view of man, that we're small in comparison to the universe.

00:39:04.260 You're not the center of everything.

00:39:06.080 yet god has honored us and entrusted us with a role of great significance

00:39:15.040 by stewarding and caring for the earth and the creation that he he made

00:39:21.740 though sin has distorted this calling christ is the true fulfillment of psalm 8

00:39:29.340 he restores us as god's ruler of rulers of the earth

00:39:36.080 He is the second Adam, the perfect human, the perfect image of God.

00:39:46.860 So what's our response to these things?

00:39:50.960 You must worship, number one.

00:39:54.220 If you walk away with these three things, I will be happy.

00:39:57.660 You must worship God for his greatness, for his majesty, for his glory.

00:40:07.160 You ought to see him as this majestic, beautiful God that he is.

00:40:13.340 The compassionate and gracious one.

00:40:16.200 The righteous one.

00:40:18.560 The maker of the heavens and the earth.

00:40:22.880 Second, you have to live faithfully in your calling as God's steward.

00:40:28.560 You have to honor him in your work, in your family, in your church, in your communities.

00:40:38.620 And finally, we have to look to Christ, the perfect man and the king over all creation,

00:40:48.480 finding in him both our redemption and our purpose.

00:40:53.180 Just as David declared at the beginning of this psalm,

00:40:55.760 May our lives also echo this refrain.

00:41:01.080 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

00:41:08.880 Amen?

00:41:09.780 Amen.

00:41:11.260 Let me pray real quick.

00:41:16.360 Father in heaven,

00:41:20.200 Lord, we are thankful this morning for this reminder of your majesty.

00:41:25.760 for this reminder that you have placed us in this creation

00:41:31.720 in order to rule it, not as tyrants,

00:41:37.520 not without any regard for you or for the care of the earth,

00:41:42.660 but we rule it for your glory.

00:41:49.940 That you may be glorified in the earth

00:41:52.360 and that all of creation may sing your praises

00:41:56.000 as it will one day.

00:41:59.240 And Lord, as we long for the day

00:42:01.480 when all of creation is restored,

00:42:05.960 when Christ comes bodily

00:42:07.960 and we may see him face to face,

00:42:13.460 God, help us in this time

00:42:15.860 to be faithful,

00:42:18.880 to worship you,

00:42:20.200 and to love you with all of our heart,

00:42:25.320 our souls, and our minds.

00:42:28.560 In Jesus' name we pray.

00:42:30.740 Amen.

Dale Partridge - February 19, 2025

Psalm 8 How Excellent Is Your Name

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