Psalms · psalm 8 of 150
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Psalm 8 is a hymn of praise by David. It opens and closes by celebrating that the name of the Lord is majestic in all the earth; looking at the heavens, the psalmist asks what human beings are that God remembers them, and answers that God has crowned them with glory and honor and given them dominion over the works of his hands.
The title directs this hymn to the choirmaster, according to the Gittith, an instrument or melody whose meaning is uncertain. After psalms of lament, Psalm 8 is an outburst of wonder. It is built as a circle, with the same line at the beginning and at the end, and it is one of the great psalms about creation and the place of human beings in it.
The psalm opens with a shout of praise: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! He has set his glory above the heavens, and out of the mouths of babies and infants he has established strength because of his foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
The poet then looks at the heavens, the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars that he set in place. Faced with that vastness he asks what is man that God is mindful of him, and the son of man that he cares for him. The answer is surprising: God has made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
He has given him dominion over the works of his hands and put all things under his feet: sheep and oxen, beasts of the field, birds of the heavens and fish of the sea. The psalm ends as it began, with the same praise to the name of the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The psalmist praises the majestic name of the Lord in all the earth and his glory above the heavens. God's name represents his character, and his greatness is seen in creation and in his closeness to his people.
God has established strength through the mouths of babies and infants. God does not need the mighty: Jesus applied this verse to the children who praised him in the temple, in Matthew 21:16.
The psalmist asks what humanity is that God remembers it. Before an immense universe the question is not an insult but a search for an answer: God cares about a creature so small.
God has given humanity dominion over the works of his hands and put all things under its feet. Hebrews 2:6-8 quotes these verses and sees them fully realized in Jesus, the perfect man.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: As majestic in all the earth, with a glory set above the heavens. — Psalm 8:1
Answer: Through the mouths of babies and infants. — Psalm 8:2
Answer: The heavens, the moon and the stars, the work of God's fingers. — Psalm 8:3
Answer: What is man that God is mindful of him and cares for him? — Psalm 8:4
Answer: With glory and honor. — Psalm 8:5
Answer: Sheep, oxen, beasts of the field, birds of the heavens and fish of the sea. — Psalm 8:7-8
Psalm 8 protects us from two mistakes: thinking we are everything and thinking we are nothing. Beside the stars we are small; before God we are crowned with glory and honor. That tension helps us live with both humility and dignity and treat every person as someone God has valued.
Dominion over creation is a task of care, not of abuse. In the group you can talk about how to steward work, family and creation as assignments from God. And the children of the church are not a distraction: the psalm says God strengthens their praise.
Psalm 8 returns to the beginning with the same line of praise, like a closed circle. Psalm 9 continues with a hymn of thanksgiving in which David remembers how God has judged the nations with justice.
Jesus quotes verse 2 in Matthew 21:16. Paul alludes to verse 6 in 1 Corinthians 15:27 and Ephesians 1:22, and Hebrews 2:6-8 quotes verses 4-6 and applies them to Jesus, who fulfills the human calling to rule with glory.
The Hebrew word is elohim, which can be translated God, angels or heavenly beings. Many versions choose heavenly beings or angels; either way, the text stresses the great dignity of human beings.
No. The dominion God gives is that of a steward who answers to the owner, who remains God. The works of God's hands are not the absolute property of human beings.