8:1 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You
have set your glory above the heavens.
8:2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your
foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger.
8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that
you have established;
8:4 what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them?
8:5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and
honor.
8:6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things
under their feet,
8:7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8:8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of
the seas.
8:9 O LORD, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
"Out of the mouths of babes..." Few people realize that this old adage is actually Biblical.
On rereading Psalm 8 in Hebrew I was reminded again how problematic verse 5 is. I remember from previous study too, that the Hebrew poetic meter is interrupted here -- as if the poet almost wanted to say something else but stopped short.
What the Hebrew actually says is that we humans are God-like. NSRV correctly translates "a little lower than gods [or God]. Most other translations says we are a little lower than angels, which sounds less blasphemous.
How do we live up to our call as being God-like in nature? Are we compassionate? Do we use our power/influence beneficially? Do we create or invent things that are good for all humankind?
Good things to ponder as the New Year begins and the Kyoto Agreement comes in effect -- here in Canada anyway.
Rev. Karen in Ontario
Reflecting on vs. 4 - after 14 years in the ministry, somehow God has chosen this time
to take great pains with me, to invite me to pray - to learn to pray, to become empowered
and refreshed, and convicted and rattled, and embarrassed by my fervor and naivete. God
has enlisted all kinds of people and events, books and music - oh, surely I must be having
some pre-vacation halucinations! For what am I that God is mindful of me?!!! (KBC in SC)
My calendar says this week is the U.N. Environmental Sabbath. I am thinking of
connecting that with this text, using the idea of inheritance. Someone once said that you
really come to know a person when you share an inheritance. We share the inheritance of
this world--how will we use and care for and divide it? Jennifer
Glendon Harris has made the connection between God and His creatures in a memorable,
thoughtful way: we are dust flirting with divinity.
Dave, Akron
Without a doubt, this is my favorite Psalm. What mind-boggling wonder to think of all
the things God created. And then to think that God loves humankind so much. Oh that we
would truly stand in awe of our Gracious God and live in ways which show our love for God.
Ways of good stewardship of resources, love, hospitality, forgiveness.... What an awesome
and Sovereign God we serve. Teek
Dominion includes Latin origins as of "dominus/i" which brings to mind the
Lordship of Christ. To have dominion is to "treat like royalty" always looking
to God for the example of how the world is cared for, rather than looking at the
(traditional) role of humans (exploitive, self-serving)and suggesting that we have the
model for God to follow. I like the Fromm reference to "evolution"; in teaching
the commandments I sometimes mention that in following them we become more
"lovable." Even though God's love receives and surrounds us "while we were
yet sinners", to grow to become like Christ must be pleasing to the Lord and must
also foster better relationships among people and between humanity and the rest of
creation. Peter in CA
I believe it was no accident that Psalm 8 was chosen to go with these texts. It has
some connection to the coronary hardening in the Mark text. In Psalm 8, the word glory is
used twice in the English translation, once to describe God, the second to describe man.
In the original Hebrew, the words we translate as glory are not the same, they are two
different words. The first word that describes God’s glory means just that, glorious,
awesome, splendor. The second word that describes the glory of man has a double meaning:
it can mean glory, but it also can mean to burden or to harden. Interestingly, it is the
same word in Exodus 14:4 (I think - Idon't have my text with me now) that God uses to say,
“I will harden Pharoah’s heart..." There is a fine line of opportunity
between gaining glory and hardening our hearts. Linking to Job and the Exodus story,
perhaps even God himself is involved in that hardening. And when we find ourselves in
bondage to sin, in bondage to hardening our hearts, only Jesus can help us to forgive and
thus gain glory. That is my slant - there are more with that word play.
Tigger in MN (used to be in ND)
Psalm 8, As far as I have gotten is the titile and the theme, Dignified Sinners. The
gospel I hear at the moment is contrary to the worms we often feel we are and are often so
called by conservative evangelists, we are a little less than God. That of course is the
real source of the other side of who we are, sinners. And as I see it both are true even
without the attempt at conviction by the evangelist.
jbg Atl.
I am choosing to focus on the verses that point to God giving us "dominion"
and will seek to share the meaning of stewardship as a response to God's claim on our
lives.
We are not only claimed by God, created in God's image, but we are called to be those
who "care for God's property," so I will preach on what it means to be good
stewards, responsible for the gifts we have received.
Bobby, Tx.
This psalm's refrain is "how majestic is your NAME in all the earth"--on
Trinity Sunday it is good to keep in mind that God has given us the privilege of a
personal name, "God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
On a day when we can tend to be either too dogmatic or too vague, it is so important to
keep in mind a simple truth: at its most basic, the "doctrine of the Trinity" is
but a bucket in which we try to carry some of the freight of how mysterious and wonderful
it is to worship and serve a personal, relational God.
I believe all the texts for this Sunday relate well. (See post under John 16:12-15).
TK in OK
